Dagger in the Daylight
by JEGlass
Summary: Two years have passed since the Great Freeze, and the Arendelle royal sisters are finally starting to live a normal, albeit hectic and stressful, life. But darkness lurks in the kingdom, a dark frost creeping in the shadows waiting for the right time to strike, and it may just end Queen Elsa's lineage before it even has a chance to begin.
1. Chapter 1

The day of the Arendelle spring harvest was like any other day in the steadily growing city, save for the thousands of town's folk and visiting pilgrims flocking to the docks and market squares to partake in the annual celebration and trade festival that took place later in the evening. Revelers packed themselves in like bushels of wheat to watch the parade and partake in the pageantry, hoping all the while to catch a glimpse of Queen Elsa and her sister Princess Anna as they moved through the crowd, speaking with dignitaries and common folk alike, all smiles and warm embraces.

It had been two years since the Great Freeze that had nearly brought Arendelle to its knees, and things had changed drastically around the kingdom as the new queen grew into her role. For starters, Arendelle had quickly become the premier city where the purchase of ice continued year round, great heavy cubes of flawless frozen water loaded daily onto ships destined for far away kingdoms and hamlets. The revenue from the ice harvest alone bolstered the kingdoms wealth exponentially, but it was the queen herself and her tireless work to raise her kingdom to newer and better heights that truly enabled Arendelle's growth. She had opened and established trade with new and neighboring kingdoms, building roads and port cities which allowed the endless flow of goods to enter and exit her kingdom ceaselessly. The harbor had been opened, the once closed off docks reestablished and renovated, and fishing in the deep seas out past Arendelle's fjord opened to the public.

But it wasn't just her mastery of the political juggling game or the almost devious way she could arrange trade that marked Elsa as perhaps one of the greatest queens the kingdom had seen in decades. It was her good, kind, loyal and unwavering love for her citizens and her kingdom that had won the people of Arendelle over after the Great Freeze. So it was no surprise that the queen and her younger sister, now twenty three and twenty, walked amongst their citizens during the festivals, eager to see what new and strange things had been brought into the city from the harbor.

The day was pleasantly warm with a cool breeze rolling in off the sea, bringing with it the salty tang of sea water and the occasional scent of butchered fish. Anna walked beside her older sister, right arm linked with Elsa's left, a smile on her face so large she felt her skin would split at the corners of her mouth. She'd never been more happy than she was when she and Elsa had the chance to walk through town, usually arm in arm, enjoying the hustled and bustle of workers scuttling around and the endless bows and curtsies.

"Are you _sure_ you're not hot in that," Anna asked for the third time, looking Elsa's choice of attire over with a curious eye. Despite the heat, the queen had chosen to wear a long sleeve turquoise cotton underdress, a royal blue wool bodice (complete with silver snowflake embroidery) and a cotton skirt the same color as her bodice that practically drug the ground behind her. Her hair was down at least, not in the messy braid she usually wore when lounging in comfortable cloths in the castle, but in a slender French braid that cascaded down her back and glittered with turquoise and diamond snowflakes. It had to be immensely hot in long sleeves, and Anna said as much.

"No dear sister, I am not hot."

Polar opposite her sister, Anna had chosen to wear a light lavender sundress with a cotton bodice tied up the back with blue ribbon. She had no underdress on, opting to only have the straps of her bodice covering her shoulders. The hem of her dress came to just below her knees and had been embroidered with springtime flowers and creeping green vines. A pair of blue slippers was the only thing that separated Anna's bare feet from the cobblestone, and she itched to take them off and hop around barefoot. There was just something so satisfying about feeling warm stones under her feet.

"I just can't fathom why you'd wear long sleeves in the middle of spring!"

"Old habits die hard, I guess," Elsa said trying not to roll her eyes, a small smile tugging the corner of her lips up. Anna had always been amazed that her sister could wear such snug, entirely covering clothing and not die of heat stroke. It had become a force of habit for the young queen during her years of self-imposed isolation to cover her body, fearing that if anyone should happen to touch her icy skin her secret would be out. Even after the Great Freeze when her power had been unwittingly unleashed for all to see, Elsa couldn't shake the urge to cover herself whenever possible, whether in cotton, wool, or ice it didn't matter.

"It also helps when you can do this," the queen whispered, throwing a small coin sized ball of ice into the air where it burst like a firework, showering the two sisters in cold snow and a blast of frosty air.

"Hey! Hey! I'm in short sleeves here," Anna laughed shaking snowflakes from her hair. "Aim your flurries somewhere else!"

Elsa, ever the regal queen, barely stifled the laugh building in her chest and turned as stoned faced as she could back towards the crowd, but she couldn't keep the laughter from her cerulean blue eyes. Anna shoved her sister with her shoulder and the two partook in some private giggles before continuing their advancement through the market square. Beyond the wall of people parallel to them the sisters could see the colorful parade marching by, often punctuated by lively music and singing.

"So dear sister," Elsa said turning ever so slightly towards Anna, "where has our Master of Ice gotten himself off to? I would have thought Master Kristoff would be here with us."

Anna didn't miss the friendly sarcasm in Elsa's voice when she referred to Kristoff in both his royal and proper title, and scowled. Kristoff hated both names, preferring to remain just Kristoff the mountain ice harvester, but just like everyone else within the castle he had to adhere to the same rules. Elsa insisted he use the proper title of Master whenever possible, enjoying the way it seemed to rankle him. It was good natured fun they could all laugh about behind closed doors.

"_Kristoff_ hasn't returned from his mountain cabin yet," Anna said, stressing his common name. Elsa looked over her shoulder at her younger sister, one perfectly shaped eyebrow arched. The young princess returned her sister's icy stare until she couldn't hold off the urge to blink and looked away.

"I see," Elsa replied after a moment, turning to look over the heads of the hundreds of parade revelers at the stables on the other side of the square. Anna looked to, hoping to catch sight of a flash of antler or the little white body of Olaf who'd decided to accompany Kristoff on his mountain venture. When she saw no sign of either Sven or the animated snowman, Anna turned sadly back to the parade.

"I wish he'd hurry up and get here."

Had Anna looked up at her sister she'd have been a sly smile pulling at her red lips as she watched a large form move through the crowd. It wasn't until Kristoff was directly behind Anna that Elsa cleared her throat, catching her younger sister's attention.

"Perhaps he's closer than you think," she grinned.

Anna jumped when a burly arm snaked around her shoulders and drew her close. She didn't have time to utter a cry of surprise as Kristoff's lips connected with hers in a passionate kiss that lasted a little to long for the queen's liking. She gently cleared her throat and the two both took the hint and withdrew.

"When did you get back?" Anna asked, grinning again. She couldn't help but plant another kiss on his cheek.

"About an hour ago."

"And it took you this long to come and find me," Anna said feigning a wounded expression that had only fooled her fiancé during their first few months together. The mountain man rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking over at Elsa with a 'what are we going to do with her' look on his face. The young queen shrugged her shoulders, hands clasped in front of her, and turned her attention onto the slowly progressing parade, giving Anna a few moments of privacy.

"Have you seen how many people are in Arendelle? It's a miracle I was able to get Sven stabled before tracking you and her Majesty through the very _narrow_ and _crowded_ streets."

Elsa smiled, thankful her back was turned to the two lovers, at the mention of her proper title. It had only taken her a year to train the ice harvester to refer to her by her proper title while out in public. Hearing him use it automatically just proved that what Anna had been saying about men being unable to be trained was completely false.

"And I also had to stop off for these."

Elsa heard Anna gasp and turned ever so slightly to see Kristoff hand the young princess a beautiful bouquet of blue and white flowers tied off with a cream ribbon.

"Oh, Kristoff, these only grow near the North Mountain. And on the side of cliffs! How did you get them?"

"Well," he said stretching the word out, "I'll tell you that I valiantly climbed over the side while only using a single rope and a shallowly dug snow anchor to bring my wife-to-be back her favorite flowers, but Olaf will tell you he jumped off the cliff for them at my request. Details, details."

Anna punched Kristoff in the arm and tried hard to hide her smile. "That's for throwing a friend of mine off a cliff!"

"Hey, hey he doesn't have bones remember! Or a skull! And he insisted!"

"Doesn't matter!" Anna turned away from her fiancé and huffed overdramatically. "Still, these are beautiful." She planted another kiss, this one on his lips. Kristoff took the open invitation and deepened the embrace.

"Where is Olaf," Elsa said trying to discreetly break the two apart but failing miserably. If they kept it up she'd be forced to blast the both of them with arctic air just to cool them down. Kristoff broke away first, blushing slightly as he looked sheepishly at the queen. Elsa cocked another perfect eyebrow, her poised posture not even sliding fractionally. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but the young queen preferred the company of the snowman to her sister's and Kristoff's when they got all gooshy romantic with one another. It wasn't that Elsa was averted to romance, she often secretly dreamed about what it would be like to be in love, but Anna's and Kristoff's romance could be tooth rotting at times.

"He's trying to get his nose back from Sven," Kristoff said motioned over his shoulder at the stables. "Said he'd catch up with us later."

Nodding, the queen turned back to the crowd and began making her way towards the castle gates where she, her sister and Kristoff could watch the tail end of the parade snake its way down the main road and away from the castle from the parapets above. She'd only gone a handful of steps when a shout from somewhere in the crowd stopped her mid stride.

"Your Majesty! Majesty, a word if you would be so kind!"

Elsa turned in the direction of the cry and scanned the crowd for who was calling. She saw a man jump down from a horse drawn cart and head towards her, but was unsure if he'd been the one who called. Anna also turned, but when no one came forward she shrugged and turned her attention back to Kristoff. Elsa lingered a moment more before turning back towards the gate and nearly came nose to nose with the man in front of her. Instinctively she backed up a step, putting some distance between the two.

The glint of metal was the only hint the young queen had that something was amiss before the nine inch dagger pierced the wool of her bodice and slid home under her ribs. Suddenly time stood still. The noise of the crowed fell away, the revelers fell away and the parade dissolved into nothingness until the only two people on earth was the queen and her assassin. Her cerulean blue eyes, wide with shock, locked on to his cold gray ones. There wasn't the slightest hit of malice anywhere on him, and that made Elsa's blood run cold.

_He's a professional._

It was upon this realization that the pain struck her like a bolt of lightning. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Heat was spreading through her body like a wildfire through dry brush. Suddenly there was only one thing to do; the only thing Elsa knew _how_ to do when being attacked. A blast of arctic air erupted between the two in half the time it took the man to blink once. Stalagmites of ice shot out in every direction like a porcupine springing its quills, and the man flew back in stunned silence. Seconds later he connected with one of the central square walls, dead with three long ice cycles protruding from his chest and pinning him in place. The concussion from the explosion of ice rocked the square like a cannon blast and all eyes turned to the drama unfolding behind them.

Elsa slammed into her sister and Kristoff, pulling them to the ground in a tangled heap of thrashing limbs and loud curses.

"Elsa, what the hell? Why did you—"

A scream tore Anna away from her sister to the gruesome sight of the man impaled to the stone wall thirty feet away. Blood was rapidly pooling under him, and his dead eyes watched the crowd with detached shock. Anna felt her mouth fall open and quickly turned away, bile rising into her throat. By now a large circle had formed around the royal party, people murmuring in fearful and shocked whispers.

"Elsa what—"

Anna stopped midsentence and felt her world tilt dangerously to one side. Her sister wasn't looking at the man impaled on the wall or the crowd. Her eyes were glued to the four inch gash in her bodice and the dark stain quickly spreading out around it. Her right hand trembled as she pressed it against the wound, the blood oozing out between her pale fingers shockingly red. Her left hand was clenched into a fist behind her, fractals of ice leaking out of her body and quickly spreading across the entire square. Already there were snow flurries fluttering down from an overcast sky that had been sunny only seconds before.

"Oh God, Elsa!" the young princess screamed and dropped down beside her sister. The queen looked up at her with such a scared and confused look Anna was instantly transported back to their childhood. Queen Elsa, the wise, powerful, strong leader of the Arendelle kingdom, was suddenly replaced by the frightened eight year old girl desperate to keep her younger sister safe at all costs. Her breath was coming in ragged gulps now as panic and pain set in.

"Assassin!" The cry went up from somewhere in the crowd and suddenly the square burst into action as if waking from a spell. Some people ran, others crowded around the bleeding queen and her entourage, angry cries of, "Protect the Queen," rippling from person to person. It wasn't until the royal guard shoved their way into the throng half a minute after the assassin alarm had gone up that the crowd parted.

Kristoff was faster than any guard, scooping a practically limp Elsa into his strong arms and running full tilt towards the castle gates. He bellowed and shoved people out of his way, all the while hugging his soon to be sister-in-law to his chest. The guards atop the parapets, seeing the princess matching the mountain man stride for stride, held their fire and allowed the party to pass under the gate unmolested. Anna heard the booming voice of the captain of the guard shout for the gates to be closed and locked.

_No_, she thought frantically, fear seizing her heart like a vice, _Elsa said we'd never lock them again!_

The boom of the four foot thick wooded doors swinging shut and the rattle of bars sliding into place was the last thing Anna heard before she was dragged into the palace by the swarm of at least thirty castle guards.


	2. Chapter 2

Time seemed to speed up and slow down at the same absurd time as the royal party made their way to the residency wing of the castle. Elsa had taken up living in her parents old room at the end of the hall, and that's where Kristoff headed at a dead run, his feet feeling as though they barely touched the ground. Anna was behind him every step of the way, her face white with panic. The door to the royal bedchambers was already open and he shouldered through, stopping when he reach the large four poster bed on the opposite side of the room. When Kristoff finally released the queen, laying her gently atop the feather mattress, his heart sank at the sight of so much blood staining her front. The rag he'd pressed to Elsa's wound was completely soaked through allowing the crimson stain to creep down her bodice and seep into the fabric of her skirt. What was worse, the young queen didn't stir, her face waxy white and her breathing barely noticeable.

"Elsa," Kristoff whispered gently, leaning in so that only he and the queen could hear him using her untitled name. "Elsa, wake up."

The young queen's eyes fluttered open, hazy with pain. "W-where's….Anna?"

"I'm right here, Elsa. I'm right here," Anna said scooting in close to Kristoff and grabbing her sister's cold left hand. Was it her imagination or did Elsa seem colder than normal? Anna pushed the thought from her head as forcefully as possible, trying to focus on the here and now despite the hundreds of questions swirling around in her brain. Who was behind the assassination attempt? Who had Elsa had dealings with that could have ended here with the young queen bleeding from a four inch hole in her stomach? It was just too much to process, and Anna felt tears of frustration and fear trailing down her face.

"Please…d-don't cry," Elsa whispered softly.

"Who would do this," Anna whispered, struggling to keep her voice from hiccupping.

"I…" Elsa's eyes suddenly rolled and she went limp, head lolling to one side.

"No, no, no, Elsa stay awake! You have to stay awake!" Anna gently shook her sister but the queen didn't respond. She was about to jump on top of her when she heard a commotion coming from the hall. Anna heard the Physician before she saw him, his loud nasally voice echoing down the hallway as he neared the royal bedchambers. There was a rattle of blades being presented, most likely in salute, or so Anna hoped.

"Physician Malkof the queen—"

"I know what's happened, fool! Let me in this instant or be charged with treason!"

Anna felt herself rising slowly as the bewildered and scowling guards promptly opened the bedchamber doors and allowed the castle doctor to enter. He was a small man, the top of his head barely making it to Anna's collar bone, but what he lacked in size he made up for in knowledge and an unrelenting ego. As physician to two sets of royals, Anna and Elsa's late parents and now the sisters themselves, the little man had developed quite a large head. Anna though of none of this as the little man marched up to the bed, took one look at the queen, and ordered everyone out.

"All of you leave. The guards as well. I need time to assess how gravely wounded her Majesty is." Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Malkof speared her with a dark look and motioned for the door. "You as well, Princess Anna."

"I'm not going anywhere," Anna said with such vehemence it startled her, fists clenched at her sides.

"Yes you are," Malkof retorted moving to pull the princess from the room. He'd gotten one hand around her slender wrist when Kristoff loomed behind him like a giant and grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulling him away from his fiancé with a single powerful jerk.

"The princess said she wasn't leaving," he menaced, nearly lifting the little man off his feet as he stood to his full height.

"Why you…unhand…guards take this man! Take the princess away from here as well, neither of them can—"

"Touch my fiancé again and I swear you'll find yourself—"

"Guards…guards!"

"Enough, Malkof!"

All eyes snapped to new figure standing in the doorway, framed by the dim light streaming in from the hall, argument temporarily forgotten. Slowly the bishop Arren entered the royal chambers, his kindly blue eyes hardened with distaste and anger directed towards the Physician. Reaching the end of Elsa's bed, he proceeded to stare down at the little man with barely contained rage.

"You would do well to remember your place, Physician Malkof," the bishop said in a quiet voice that did nothing to hide his contempt.

"My place is at the queen's side, and I cannot do my job while all of you are in this room! As royal Physician I must—"

"That is correct, Physician Malkof, you are the royal physician, but that does not make _you_ royalty. You do not have the right to order the Princess Anna to do anything."

"I do if it could impact the queen's life!"

"Arren," a weak voice said from the bed, and once again all eyes turned to the queen. She was barely conscious, her body fighting to keep her heart beating as she continued to bleed, but it appeared she had enough cognitive ability to speak. The bishop hurried to her side and knelt, head lowered so Elsa wouldn't have to project her voice.

"Yes, Majesty."

"Anna…make her…Acting Majesty."

The bishop felt his heart sink but hid his emotions well. "Majesty, I do not think…"

"We must…think of the kingdom, Arren. To many…wolves."

The bishop knew of what his queen spoke of and nodded gravely. Straightening his robes to buy himself time to compile his thoughts, bishop Arren turned towards the princess with a stony mask in place.

"Her Majesty, Queen Elsa, has decreed that Princess Anna will take the title as Acting Majesty for an undetermined period of time."

"Acting what?" Anna said looking between her sister and the bishop with slowly mounting dread. What were they talking about? She'd never heard of the title before, and the sad look in the bishop's eyes wasn't helping matters either.

"Princess Anna of Arendelle," the slim elderly man said, hands folded in front of his robes and head bowed slightly, "you are the last remaining heir to the throne. Upon royal request, I charge you as Acting Majesty until the time of the queen's recovery or…" he fought the lump in his throat and swallowed hard, "Or until Queen Elsa no longer resides on this earth."

_But she's not going to die!_ Anna wanted to scream at the man, but her words never formed on her numb tongue. She felt the world tilt again for the second time and would have slumped to the floor had Kristoff's strong arms not held her up.

"Acting Majesty," Malkof said irritably, grinding each word out between bared teeth, "what do you decree?"

_What an absolutely asinine thing to ask_, Anna thought.

"Heal my sister," Anna snapped, her very words a command.

"Then I must ask you to leave."

"I won't leave Elsa's side!" Anna bellowed. "I will not leave until I know she his whole and healthy."

"Acting Majesty," bishop Arren said in a soft, not unkind voice, drawing Anna away from her building anger towards Malkof, "perhaps it would be best to wait in the hall while the Physician works on the queen. The less people cluttering the room the faster he can guarantee your sister's safe recovery."

There was obvious logic in the old bishop's words, but still Anna balked. It wasn't until Kristoff put his arm around her shoulders and gently began leading his fiancé towards the door that reason finally overrode fear.

"She'll be fine, Anna. She's in good hands," Kristoff soothed as they exited the bedchamber. Anna could only nod, not trusting her voice.

The second everyone save Malkof was gone the Physician called for his assistants to enter. Eight white clad men and women filed into the room, hands and faces covered in white silk. They had even covered their heads with scarves of the same material, leaving only their eyes to peer out at the princess and her fiancé as they passed. Anna caught sight of Malkof pulling a white robe from the large medicine bag that never left his side. Two apprentices helped him secure the robe with a wide white sash while he dawned a pair of white silk gloves and a silk mask before the royal bedchamber door clicked shut.


	3. Chapter 3

For four hours the princess and her fiancé waited outside Elsa's room, a tense silence stretching between the two as the minutes slowly crept by. Anna had sent the guards away, positioning two to stand at the bottom of the spiral staircase leading to the residency wing, but the rest were dismissed back to their posts. After that the young princess began pacing, looking worriedly at the closed door every handful of seconds. She'd never felt this helpless before. Even during the Great Freeze, when Elsa had accidently frozen her heart and that bastard Hans had tricked her into believing he loved her, she'd never felt this amount of crushing helplessness. It was like a boulder was being slowly lowered onto her chest making every breath seem like a titanic feet to accomplish and every creek of a floorboard set her heart pounding. When the royal bedchamber door finally opened it was all Anna could do to keep herself from lunging at the Physician.

"Please, tell me she's going to be alright," Anna said hands clutched to her chest. Malkof blinked a few times, shaking a dusting of snow from his shoulders and acclimating to the dimness of the hall before answering with a weary sigh.

"Prin— Acting Majesty, there is much I need to discuss with you." Anna felt that helpless weight double but steeled herself. Malkof glanced over the princess's shoulder at Kristoff and frowned. "Perhaps we should—"

"Physician Malkof, Kristoff is my fiancé and anything you have to say to me can be said in front of him as well," Anna snapped, unsure where this untapped authority was coming from. The royal Physician looked as if he might argue but dropped his gaze and relented.

"As you wish, but let us move away from the door. Your sister is resting." So the three moved a little ways down the hall to where a covered wall sconce threw out a pool of golden light.

"Will my sister be alright," Anna said before Malkof could open his mouth.

"Acting Majesty, your sister was gravely wounded by the assassin's blade. Three of her ribs were broken, from the blast of magic she used to kill the man I have to guess, but the worst of it is…" Malkof hesitated fractionally before reaching into a small pocket at his side and removed something large wrapped in a white silk cloth. Slowly he unwrapped the bundle, revealing it to be the handle of a plain looking dagger missing half its blade. Malkof leveled his dull brown eyes on Anna's bright blue one and sighed again.

"I'm afraid there is no easy way to say this. The blade that pierced your sister's chest broke when Queen Elsa separated herself from her attacker. The guards searched the square and courtyard behind the castle walls and were unable to come up with the missing piece. I have no other option than to believe the blade is lodged within your sister's chest, and," Malkof lowered his eyes, "we are unable to reach the shard."

This time Anna did crash to the floor, all strength leaving her body. She stared stupidly at the carpet, her mind slow to process all that she'd heard. Hands wrapped around her stomach, she barely heard Kristoff address the Physician.

"There isn't anything you can do?"

"No," Malkof said sadly. "We risk further injuring the queen by searching for the shard."

"But she can't live with a piece of metal under her ribs!"

"Do not think me a fool!" Malkof snapped. "I know what this means more than you, _Master Ice Harvester_."

Anna felt Kristoff move towards the royal Physician and roused from her stupor. "Stop it the both of you!"

"Apologies, Acting Majesty," Malkof said stepping back and bowing his head. "I fear my grief is getting the better of my judgment. Master Kristoff, if there was anything more I could do I'd have done it. There are limits in my line of work. I cannot perform miracles."

Kristoff glared at the Physician as he helped his fiancé to her feet, the entire weight of her small frame leaning against his. He put a protective arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Finally the young princess seemed to gather her wits and addressed the royal Physician as calmly as she could manage.

"What now?"

"We make her comfortable," Malkof said quietly. "I've given her a tea that will dull the pain and lightly sutured her wound. The bleeding was stopped with an herbal poultice, but I'm afraid that's where the good news ends. You may go in and see her. I will return in a few hours to administer another dose of pain medicine. As it is, I am dangerously low on herbs, so should you need anything one of my apprentices will be within a guard's shout. At your leave, Acting Majesty."

Malkof bowed his head and Anna dismissed him. Only once the little man was half way down the spiral staircase did Anna bolt for the bedchamber door and run to her sister's side.


	4. Chapter 4

Elsa's room was dim, the lights the Physician and his apprentices had used to operate under having been extinguished leaving only the fireplace and a small bedside lantern to light the cavernous space. Anna felt the drastic dip in temperature as she entered and felt a few flakes of snow brush her cheek. Ice had climbed the walls in a fractal pattern of reaching fingers and spread across the floor making walking a treacherous affair. Anna was use to ice and cold, however, her sister using her power more and more openly after the Great Freeze, and carefully picked her way across the room to where Elsa lay motionless in her four poster bed. Kristoff moved towards the fireplace, throwing a fresh bundle of logs into the hungry flames and exhaling a fog of steam as he warmed his hands.

For half a heartbeat the young princess just stared down at her older sister, words and movement escaping her. The Physician had stripped Elsa down to her bloodstained cotton underdress and a loose fitting pair of cotton breeches that Anna had no idea her sister even possessed. The underdress had been cut away just below her bust line to allow access to the stab wound. A red speckled gauze patch now dominated her abdomen, hiding the wound as best it could. It was strange seeing her regal sister in such revealing attire, Anna had been the more adventurous out of the two when it came to how she dressed, but the look didn't detract from Elsa's natural beauty. Anna made a mental note to tell her sister this when this whole nightmare was over.

"Elsa?" Anna said settling down in the chair next to her sister's bed that must have been put there by one of Malkof's assistants. The queen stirred after a moment, cerulean blue eyes opening fractionally. She would have dropped off again had Anna not gently brushed the side of her face, jarring her awake.

"It's ok, it just me," Anna soothed moving a stray strand of platinum blond hair out of her sister's face.

"I feel horrible," Elsa rasped, laying her head back and focusing on the ceiling, surprised to see so much frost hanging above her. Had she done that unconsciously? Frowning with concentration, Elsa drew in a slow, hesitant breath, her right wrist flicking sharply upon exhale. The ice obeyed its master's call and retreated, the room temperature slowly starting to regulate. Anna would have been elated to see that her sister still had the strength to control her powers had Elsa not suddenly ground her teeth in pain, sweat prickling her brow.

"Don't do that," Anna snapped and instantly regretted her tone of voice. More gently she said, "I mean, please don't use your powers. Save your strength."

Elsa let out a long sigh and deflated a bit. How had things gone so wrong so fast? Hadn't she done everything in her power to become the queen everyone wanted her to be? She'd done so much for her kingdom, so much for other kingdoms and hamlets that the idea of someone sending an assassin after her was beyond troubling. And would they stop with her, or was Anna at risk as well? Was this Hans trying to make another power play, or Weaselton? Maybe the Corona kingdom? No, Elsa knew her aunt would never raise a finger towards her two nieces. Maybe Ashtal? Elsa tried to sort out her thoughts, to break apart everything that had happened with her analytical mind in order to find the puzzle piece she was obviously missing, but nothing came to her and she was left feeling more helpless and frustrated than before.

Anna could see the war taking place behind her sister's eyes and tried to keep quiet and still. It only lasted another few minutes before she couldn't keep silent any longer. But before she could speak the queen sighed again and turned her head so that she could see Anna clearly in the warm glow of the fireplace.

"I think this will be a spring harvest to remember," Elsa said with a small sad smile.

"Eh, if you say so," Anna shrugged looking out the window opposite her sister's bed. The sky had darkened considerably, twilight slowly slipping into early evening. Where had the day gone? "The parade wasn't that great anyway, and I'm pretty sure there's no topping last year's ball."

Elsa felt the ghost of a smile tough her lips at the mention of the fiasco that was last year's spring celebration. Missing staff, misplaced guests, a fire in the kitchen that had nearly swallowed the entire back half of the castle…yes it had been quite an eventful night that had left Elsa on the verge of icing her kingdom again and Anna in stitches most of the evening. Still, the memories were happy ones that seemed to ease the pain of the current hell the queen and her sister were partaking in.

"That was one of the worst experiences of my life," Elsa chuckled dryly.

"It wasn't that bad," Anna grinned.

"This coming from the woman who tricked me into thinking she'd fallen off the ballroom balcony after having too much wine."

"The bruises were worth seeing the look on your face," Anna said looking back at Kristoff who returned her smile.

"Still," Elsa exhaled and half smiled, "I think this spring festival takes the cake. Assassinating the queen in broad daylight? That's going to make the history books."

Apparently Elsa's gallows humor was only appreciated by her. Anna's face fell, replaced with an unreadable mask as realization of what Elsa was saying spread across her face like a gray cloud blocking the sun. Elsa winced inwardly but knew of no better way to broach the subject.

"No," Anna whispered quietly. "We're not talking about this now."

"Anna we need to," Elsa said softly.

"_No we do not_," Anna growled between clenched teeth, eyes glued on her hands clenched together in her lap. The queen had expected her sister to be sad, but she'd not expected to see anger flashing across the princess's beautiful face like heat lightning.

"Please just listen," Elsa reached out to take her sister's hand but the princess drew back, defiance tightening every muscle in her body until she felt like an overly wound spring.

"We're not going to talk about this, because you're not going to die, so don't even try. I'm not the Majesty or even Acting Majesty. I'm just Princess Anna and you're Queen Elsa, and that's how it's going to stay." The tears Anna had been fighting back were finally flowing freely, and the young princess did little to stop them. She looked up and speared her sister with a withering look that would have made their mother proud, the moisture in her eyes making her natural sky blue color almost glow. "Do you understand, _Majesty_? You are not going to die. Not after I've just gotten you back."

"Anna," Elsa sighed turning to stare at the ceiling. It was easier to speak to her younger sister when she wasn't able to see the pain and fear written all over her face. It was also easier for Elsa to hide her own fear that was slowly spreading through her. She wasn't prepared to face death, not so soon in life. "I know what Physician Malkof said to you. He told me the same thing. They can't reach the shard. They can't even properly close the wound."

"That doesn't mean anything," Anna said clenching her fists until she felt her nails bite into her palm.

"Oh for God's sake Anna, use your head! If my royal Physician can't remove the shard of steal lodge in my chest that means I'm as good as dead, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Not you, not Malkof, not even Kristoff! So please, let me explain to you what's going to happen after I'm gone. There's so much you don't know about. I've managed to get this kingdom to practically run itself for the next two years, but that doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing. You're going to—"

"Fuck your role as queen!" Anna exploded coming up out of the chair so fast it topple over behind her with a clatter. Elsa looked as shocked as Anna felt but the anger burning within her chest kept her heated even under her sister's cool stare. "That's all you do. Rule! Even now you're trying to rule when you're on your death bed. Why can't you just be my sister first and the ruler of Arendelle second? I want my sister here with me, not the queen!"

Elsa felt her face flush, blood rising into her cheeks at her sister's rebuke. Her anger simmered just under the surface, cold as the arctic air swirling in her veins. "Because there are more people in this kingdom than you, Anna! I'm just one person, but I have to care for thousands. _Thousands!_ Do you know how much strength that takes, how much endurance? No, don't answer, because I know you don't. You're a princess, and that means you've been spared the riggers and stresses of ruling, but that's about to change. I _have_ to prepare you, because I don't know how much _longer I have_."

Anna whipped away from her sister and stalked over to the fire where a bewildered Kristoff was trying to make himself as small as he could within the folds of the deep wingback chair he was sitting in. Anna grabbed a stout log from the small pile next to the pokers and threw it as hard as she could into the fire, sparks and embers exploding into the chimney with a frantic crackling. He could see the tears shinning in her eyes as she stared at the flickering flames, and when a sob shook her to her core he was up and behind her in an instant. But Anna jerked away from his touch, opting to stand alone in front of the fire, one hand over her mouth and the other wrapped around her stomach in a vain attempt at holding in her sobs. Her shoulders quaked with the effort, and Kristoff's heart broke for his fiancé as she attempted to bare the weight of this nightmare alone. When he glanced over at the queen he wasn't surprised to see she too was crying, silvery tears sliding down her face.

"I can't do this," Anna finally said in a broken whisper. Kristoff didn't know who she was speaking to, but Elsa seemed to know instinctively.

"Yes, you can," she whispered, bright eyes staring at the back of Anna's head.

"No, no I can't." Anna turned and the last of her anger crumbled "Not without you." She rushed to her sister's side and fell sobbing to her knees, great heaving cries wrenched from her with every breath she took. Elsa put a hand atop her sister's head and shushed her, humming the gentle melody their mother had sung to them as children whenever they were scared or hurt. After a time Anna's sobs quieted and she was again able to speak, though her voice was raw and raspy.

"This isn't fair. I just got you back."

"Life's not fair, little sister, but I'm so grateful I was able to spend these two years with you in happiness. After so long apart…I'd forgotten what love feels like. Now I know." A single tear slid down Elsa's cheek but she smiled despite the pain swirling in her chest. Anna was right, this wasn't fair. Why God or the gods or whatever was out there would bring the two of them together only to rip them apart two years later seemed like the ultimate cruel joke. But Elsa had to deal with the hand she'd been dealt, and she'd be damned if she went without a fight. Let hell know the feeling of true cold, she'd freeze heaven over just to make a point if she had to.

A knock at the door startled the two. Kristoff rose from his seat and crossed the room, opening the door for a white clad apprentice bearing a small tray. The two spoke quietly for a brief moment before the apprentice departed leaving the tray with the mountain man.

"The guy in white said this was from the Physician. It's another dose of pain medicine." Kristoff set the tray on the opposite side of the bed and waited. Elsa seemed unsure she wanted to take another dose. If she truly was going to die she wanted to spend her last few hours with a clear head even if that meant fully baring the pain of her wound.

"Take it," Anna urged.

"No," the young queen said squeezing her sister's hand and halting her as she rose to fetch the tray. "The medicine makes me hazy."

"But it can help—"

"No, Anna," Elsa snapped and it was her turn to regret her tone of voice.

Anna slowly lowered herself back into the chair, a slightly wounded look on her puffy red face. Elsa tried to smile and reach for her sister with her left hand to move an unruly strand of strawberry blond hair from her face when a lance of pain shot up her side and pooled around her heart. Gasping, eyes going wide, Elsa jerked and felt something shift inside her. Her right hand slammed into her chest right over her heart as she rode the tidal wave of pain, vision blurring. She couldn't hear Anna's screams for help or the pounding of feet as the apprentices returned, only the roaring in her ears. When someone cupped the back of her neck and raised her head off her sweat stained pillows she arched and released another pulse of white hot agony. Elsa gagged on the lukewarm liquid being poured down her throat and felt the effects of the tea a second later. The pain was quickly dissipating, taking her away with it as darkness slowly crept into her vision and swallowed her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Kristoff, what are we going to do?" Anna whispered as the apprentices made their leave of the bedchamber. Elsa was asleep, the tea going to work shockingly fast, but her breathing was labored and she was sweating freely now. Even in sleep the pain was her constant companion.

"I don't know, Anna. I'm not a doctor," the mountain man said sliding down the door and putting his face in his hands. He had to be strong for Anna, there just wasn't any other option. His fiancé needed him to be her pillar even if he himself was crumbling under the weight of stress and sadness. Elsa was just as much a part of his family as Anna, Sven or Olaf was, and the thought of losing her was too much. Two years of practically living on top of one another had made all four of them close, and for just a brief moment Kristoff had been happy having a human family to call his. The royal sisters had taught him that not everyone was bad, but after today he wasn't so sure he could remain in that frame of mind anymore.

Anna slid down next to him, all the tears she could cry gone for the moment. She put her head on his strong shoulder, strawberry blond hair cascading down his arm, and just sat there staring at the bed.

"There used to be so much magic in this room," Anna said quietly, her red rimmed eyes sliding around the familiar chamber. "Mother and father use to let Elsa and I play in here when we were younger before…well before things got complicated. She and I would jump on their bed until the maids caught us or dress in mother and father's cloths." A hollow laugh rolled from her lips as she watched the ghosts of the young princesses prance around the room, Elsa wearing father's dress coat decorated with his medals of state while Anna scrambled after her in one of her mother's evening gowns. The two laughed and played for hours, making up scenarios and pretending to dance at balls like they'd seen their parents do. But the memory faded quickly and the room returned to his gloomy darkness.

"But there's no magic in here anymore. It died the day my parents died."

"Magic's a fickle thing," Kristoff sighed and the sudden realization of what he'd just said hit him so strongly the mountain man nearly jumped out of his skin. Head reeling, he lurched forward, a hand pressed to his forehead. Anna gave a small squeak of concern.

"What is it, what's wrong?"

"Magic. That's it!' Kristoff turned to Anna and his toothy smile was like a burst of sunlight after a week of rain. "Anna, that's it! We need magic!"

"I don't know where you're plan on finding any," Anna said dubiously. Kristoff reached into his purple and green cotton tunic, fished around for a moment, then withdrew a tangle of blue diamond shaped crystals tied to multiple leather thongs and shook them. Suddenly Anna understood and the crushing weight in her stomach lifted so quickly she honestly though she could have launched off the earth and flown.

"Troll magic," Anna whispered, a smile spreading across her face and lighting her eyes.

"Troll magic," Kristoff repeated tucking his personal crystals back into his shirt and pulling Anna into a crushing hug. "I'll go get Pabbie. If there's anyone who can save Elsa its Pabbie. He's already done it once before with you."

Anna could have burst with relief but settled on diving at her fiancé and drawing him into the deepest kiss she could stand. Never in her life had she loved someone so completely than this moment. After a few breathless seconds the two parted, Kristoff more flushed than he'd ever remembered being.

"Stay here with Elsa. I shouldn't be too long."

"Please hurry," Anna begged following him to the door. He kissed her one last time before taking off down the hallway at a dead run, startling maids and guards as he went. Anna watched him go until she could no longer see him then rushed to the window overlooking the courtyard. She caught a glimpse of her fiancé as he headed into the stables, reemerging a few moments later with Sven pulling a four wheeled cart. Together the reindeer and mountain man raced through a small crack in the main gate and quickly disappeared from sight. Anna leaned heavily against the cool glass of the window, hope burning like a small flame in her chest. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance.


	6. Chapter 6

Convincing Pabbie to leave the troll territory and travel via cart into to the kingdom of man hadn't been as easy as Kristoff had imagined. At first the grizzled old troll had flat out refused, telling his adopted grandson son that troll magic was not something he wished all humans to know about. The fact that the Arendelle royal family knew was quite enough for his liking. The conversation would have ended there had Kristoff's adopted mother Bulda not taken her son's side and stubbornly argued his case. The tribe joined Bulda in agreement, and after a thorough thrashing, most if not all the trolls loved both royal sisters for different reasons, Pabbie reluctantly agreed.

The ride back to the castle was a little slower going, Sven's cart weighed down by at least two hundred pounds of solid boulder. Pabbie refused to be seen outside his camouflage state, so Kristoff drove back to the kingdom with a man sized boulder in the back of his cart. Only a few people gave him a passing glance as he threaded through the outer kingdom and drove into town. It wasn't until he reached to the castle gates that his progress was halted.

"Who goes!" shouted a guard from one of the murder holes in the parapet. The assassination attempt had put all the city guards on edge and they seemed to be taking no chances. Kristoff raised the lantern swinging from its hook beside him and waved it in front of his face so the guard could see him.

"It's Kristoff!"

"What do you have with you in the cart, Master Ice Harvester?"

"A request from Princess Anna. If you don't believe me, send for her yourself!"

The guard did just that, returning ten minutes later and opening the gates fractionally. Kristoff nudged Sven forward and the heavy cart rattled into the courtyard beyond. A squad of castle guards was waiting for the mountain man, the head of the group, a tall fair haired man Kristoff knew all too well saluting sharply.

"Master Kristoff, her Acting Majesty has instructed us to help you in any way we can."

The mountain man scowled. Either Anna had forgotten that he hefted huge blocks of ice for a living or the guards were taking her order of "help Kristoff" too literally. Nervously he looked back at Pabbie, unsure how the old troll would feel being manhandled by half a dozen armor clad humans.

"Thank you, Captain Revel, but I'm perfectly capable of delivering this myself," Kristoff said jumping from the cart. "I would, however, appreciate if you could stable Sven and make sure he is fed. Three rations of carrots should be enough."

The guard captain looked skeptically over Kristoff's shoulder at the massive boulder weighing the wagon down. He was about to offer a polite rebuttal when a small white blob of snow skidded into the courtyard and crashed into the squad. Kristoff fought back a sigh of relief as Olaf scrambled to his feet, apologizing as he retrieved bits and pieces of himself.

"So sorry my metal clad friends! I have no traction on these stones at night." Olaf straightened himself one last time, readjusting his nose twice, before he noticed Kristoff sniggering a few feet away and rushed over to him.

"Kristoff! You're back! Gosh, have you still not found Elsa and Anna? I could have sworn I saw Anna running in here beside you this afternoon. I've been all over the castle looking for you guys!"

The mountain man's heart dropped as he realized Olaf had no idea what had happened. Slowly he lowered himself down to the little snowman's level.

"Olaf, something's happened."

The little snowman bounced from foot to foot, black eyes shining with a strange intelligence. "I know! The parade was canceled and so was the ball. That's ok though, we can still have fun behind the castle. Oh! I wonder if Elsa will freeze the hill again! I'll bet she—"

"Olaf, that's not what I meant," Kristoff said cutting him off mid-sentence. It was now that the little snowman seemed to realize there was something amiss and his little face scrunched into an expression of confused concern.

"What's going on, Kristoff?"

"Someone attacked the queen this afternoon at the parade. That's why the rest of the festival and the ball were canceled."

"What," Olaf gasped, fear overtaking his usual jovial expression. His little stick arms came up to his mouth in an eerie expression of utter shock. "Someone's hurt Elsa?"

"Yes, which is why I'm out here getting this," Kristoff motioned over his shoulder at the Pabbie boulder. The little snowman seemed to instantly recognize the boulder but had enough sense not to say anything. For now at least.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"There is," Kristoff said leading the snowman to the back of his cart and away from the sharp ears of the guards. "I need you to stand guard outside Elsa's room. No one can get in, alright?"

The little snowman practically beamed with happiness, his infectious smile once again dominating his triangular face. "Oh! Oh! I can do that. No problem. You can count on me!"

"Good, now head on up while I unload."

Kristoff heaved Pabbie out of the back of the cart, securing the troll boulder to his back with a series of complex hemp lashings. This wasn't the first time he'd had to move a troll long distances, but Pabbie was the biggest and heaviest, so it took a little more effort to set off towards the castle. The squad of guards watched in transfixed wonder as the mountain man huffed his way into palace, leaving an irritated Sven for them to care for.

Had the trek to Elsa's room been a straight shot on level ground, Kristoff would have had little problem getting there. As it was he had to climb an entire spiral staircase, bent nearly in half and using his hands as support, and trudge down an absurdly long hallway before the royal bedchamber doors rose up before him. He didn't have to raise his hand to knock, Anna swinging the door open for him. Olaf waved as he passed, taking his place next to the door just like Kristoff had asked.

"I sent the guards to help you!" Anna frowned as her fiancé trudged into the room and let his bundle fall to the floor with a resounding crack. He was sure he'd heard floorboards splintering but didn't care to look.

"I….I….didn't need…their help," Kristoff panted, sweat rolling down his face in rivulets. Anna fetched him a glass of water from the nightstand and the mountain man drank it greedily before pulling off his sweat soaked shirt and throwing it across the room. Anna flushed a little, her eyes scanning his chiseled chest and arms until he caught her staring and she looked away.

"So, how did you persuade him to come?" Anna coughed daintily into her hand, attempting to cover her embarrassment.

"You don't want to know," Kristoff muttered reaching for her to help him up.

"Oh, so now you need help," Anna said arching an eyebrow.

"Come on, Anna. Do you really think Pabbie would have liked being manhandled by six strangers? I was barely able to get him to come. Bulda was the one who finally talked him into it after the clan threatened a full revolt if he didn't help Elsa."

"He really didn't want to come?" Anna asked helping her fiancé to his feet, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. She and Elsa had made it a regular practice to venture into the troll kingdom and spend time with their extended family as much as possible. They'd even been given honorary crystal necklaces, ones that the sisters wore secretly at all times, and had participated in many celebrations and important events involving the clan. So for Pabbie to outright refuse to come to Elsa's aid stung more than Anna realized.

"It's not like that," Kristoff said quickly, fairly sure he'd explained things the wrong way. "You know how the trolls are around kingdom people. They love you and your sister, don't misunderstand me, they just aren't fond of the castle. It's all the dead stone. Pabbie says he can't feel the earth's song this far in the kingdom."

Anna nodded, unsure she fully understood but happy that Kristoff had managed to get his adoptive grandfather to come regardless.

"So, we just wait for him to unroll," she asked walking around to sit on the edge of her sister's bed. The queen didn't look any different than when Kristoff had left, and he guessed that was a good thing.

"Shouldn't take too long…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Note:** Whew, ok guys, I gotta say this has taken a lot to get to this point. Chapter 4 about killed me to write. I literally had tears in my eyes as I wrote the argument between Elsa and Anna. It just reminded me a little to much about my relationship with my own little sister and how we'd react if put into a situation like this. Heavy stuff. Still, can't stop now can I!? I'll be uploading more as the week goes on as I finish final edits, so stay tuned!

Pabbie unrolled like a giant stone pill bug, joints popping and snapping into place as he put weight on his stubby legs. The room was dark save for a small fire snapping and crackling in fireplace at the far end of the room and the glowing yellow stones around his neck, but even in the dimness he could make out the figure of the queen laying on her bed, her sister at her side.

"Help me up, my blond son," Pabbie said motioning for Kristoff to lift the little troll onto the bed so he could have a better look at the young queen. The mountain man grunted as he heaved the troll onto the end of Elsa's bed, the boards and mattress creaking and groaning in protest as his full rock weight settled into it.

With a better view of the queen, Pabbie could see just how bad things had gotten and cursed under his breath. She was paler than usual, sweat clinging to her face and hairline like dew on grass. Her chest moved unevenly as if something were pressing on her lungs and a light frost was leaking from her fingers and crawling up the walls behind her head. Elsa had been in control of her powers for more than two years. There had been no accidental anything since the Great Freeze, no freezings, no ice stalagmite waves, no nothing; but seeing that frost slowly making its way from her chilled fingers up the wall, Pabbie knew Elsa was in hellish pain.

"This isn't good," the old troll said in a gravelly voice, bushy yellow eyebrows draw with concern, moving up the bed until he was sitting next to the young queen. He didn't have to look to see where the wound on her body was. If the bloody gauze patch wasn't clue enough, Pabbie could sense the metal lurking under Elsa's skin, calling to him in the language of the earth.

"Can you do anything," Anna said, her bright blue eyes searching the old trolls face. "Our physician said a piece of the blade is still lodged in her somewhere, but he can't see it to remove it."

"He is correct, little one. The blade still lingers in your sister's body."

"Can you tell where it is?" Anna clutched her hand to her chest, fighting off her growing dread as she watched the old troll watch her sister.

"Give me a moment," Pabbie mumbled, flexing his stubby fingers and waking the earth magic chambered within him. The yellow stones around his neck twinkled like flickering candlelight before glowing a solid sunshine yellow that lit up half the room in an eerie half-light. Gently the old troll removed the gauze patch, revealing the dark grizzly gash in Elsa's skin, and set his hands lightly atop her abdomen, closing his eyes as he honed in on the song of fire forged steel. He worked his way up, inch by inch, until he dared go no further, his hands just beneath the queens left breast.

"Young princess, I ask your permission to proceed further," Pabbie said turning his dark eyes onto Anna. The strawberry blond didn't seem to understand what he was asking and gave him a quizzical look.

"It is improper to touch a woman in such a way without permission. If the queen were conscious I would ask her, but I turn to you now, you being her only sister."

"What are you talking—"

"Anna, he has to check her heart," Kristoff said softly, dropping down next to her. "He has to put his hand on her…" he trailed off and motioned at the queen, a small bit of blush coloring his cheeks. Suddenly Anna understood and could have slapped herself.

"Oh! Yes. I'm sure she won't mind…I mean she would…no one likes being groped. Not that that's what you're doing! I just meant…in a situation like this…" Anna trailed off feeling more and more like the fool. Elsa would never have gotten so flustered so quickly. Pabbie didn't seem to mind and smiled affectionately at the young princess before returning to his work.

He placed his magically charged hand atop the queen's left breast and kept it there, listening with eyes closed as the metal sung him a song he could see clearly in his mind's eye. After a moment he withdrew nodding his head.

"The blade doesn't seem to have pierced your sister's lungs or internal organs. Either her assassin was quite skilled and knew where exactly to strike or your sister is very, very lucky. But I'm afraid it's worse than your physician believes. Though the assassin may have not damaged your sister internally the broken blade tip is resting a hairs breath from her heart. Should she shift in any way it could dislodge, killing her instantly."

Anna covered her mouth with her hand, fighting to keep the sob building in her throat from escaping. Eyes squeezed shut, the young princess breathed heavily through her nose for a few moments before she was able to master her mounting dread. Kristoff swore openly and pulled his fiancé towards him, doing his best comfort her.

"Is there anything, _anything_ you can do, Pabbie," Kristoff said as Pabbie leaned back and sat heavily, his yellow stones dimming slightly.

"There is."

Anna let out a startled gasp and all but lunged at the old troll. "Please, Pabbie. Save her. Save my sister!"

Pabbie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his dark eyes lingering on the pale face of the queen. "There is a way to remove the blade from her body without further injuring her, but," he held up a finger before Anna had a chance to interrupt, "there is a price for such magic, young princess."

"Name it! I'll pay anything. Anything you want, it's yours!"

"Anna," Kristoff said feeling a little wounded. She knew the trolls had no need or sense of monetary value. Their existence was solely to serve the earth, so it stung a bit that his fiancé would immediately assume that the price Pabbie was talking about somehow meant he wanted gold, or jewels, or a title as payment.

"It's alright my blond son, she does not yet understand. And how could she? She was raised in the realm of man with their love for money and power." Turning to Anna, Pabbie said, "Anna, the payment I speak of will not come from your treasury or your vaults. It comes from your sister. In order for me to save her, I need to draw the blade from her body. That is the easy part, I'm afraid. What comes after is the payment. To keep your sister from harming herself or any of you, I will need to cap her power temporarily."

Anna stared stupidly at the old troll, her mind spinning a mile a minute. Cap her power? Was that even possible? And if it had been couldn't he have done it years ago when Elsa's power nearly killed Anna and two years ago when she unwittingly brought the Great Freeze down on her kingdom? Anna said this much to Pabbie who only shook his head, yellow stones tinkling.

"A cap is not a permanent thing, like a wax seal on a piece of parchment. If I had capped your sisters power as a child, when the cap finally eroded away, her power would have burst from her like a dam and she would have more than likely destroyed the entire kingdom. What I do today will only be a temporary thing, stopping her magic until the blade is removed. It may last a night, it might last a fortnight. It all depends on how quickly your sister heals."

Anna felt numb and slightly dizzy. Somehow capping Elsa's power sounded like the worst thing that could happen, but if it mean saving her life…

"Do it," Anna said with as much authority as she could muster. Pabbie was silent for a few moments, compiling his thoughts before standing unsteadily on the bed.

"Kristoff, lock the door and bar it. Once I begin I cannot be interrupted. If I lose connection with the blade it could spring back and kill the queen." Kristoff did as his troll grandfather instructed, locking the door from the inside and moving one of the large wooden dressers against it should the guards try and force it down.

"Anna, I'll need you to hold your sisters arms down. I've no doubt she'll fight us, but you cannot let her move, do you understand?"

Anna nodded quickly, fighting off the nausea twisting around inside her stomach like a worm. She crawled atop the bed, pushing the pillows aside, positioned herself behind her sister, and gently grabbed her by her upper arms, pinning her. Kristoff returned and Pabbie instructed him to hold the queen's legs should she kick.

"There is one other thing I did not mention," Pabbie said as he straddled Elsa's right leg, angling himself so that the knife wound was directly in front of him. He lifted his eye towards Anna and the regret in them made her go cold. "Elsa must remain conscious while I remove the blade. I cannot touch her magic while she is unconscious. I am sorry."

Before Anna could so much as protest, Pabbie reached up and touch the young queen's forehead with his fingers, a small spark of yellow electricity arching between the two. Elsa's cerulean eyes fluttered open, heavy lidded and glassy with pain.

"Your Majesty," Pabbie said drawing the young girls attention away from the room and into himself. "I apologize in advance for what you are about to feel. If there was any other way, believe me I would do it, but in order to save your life you must bare this pain."

Elsa seemed to realize much faster than Anna want was about to happen, and despite the drowsy fog pulling at her from all sides, nodded silently and clutched the blankets on either side of her so tightly her knuckles turned lily white. Pabbie took this as permission to proceed and removed the weak sutures from the knife wound with the wave of his hand. Only when the wound was free of human medicine did the old troll began to sing a soft wordless melody.

It began slowly at first, the song like a lullaby. Anna braced herself but her sister didn't budge, eyes closed and jaw clenched. The only trace of discomfort on her face was the periodic flaring of her nostrils. If only it had remained that way. Maybe then Anna wouldn't have had nightmares years later of her sister's cried of agony.

Pabbie's song struck a sharp note and Anna felt Elsa buck, her body rising fractionally off the bed. The young princess firmly pushed her back down but she could feel Elsa's body starting to tense, the sinewy muscles of her arms straining against her sisters hands. Her breath was coming in rapidly now through her nose, chest heaving and she groaned behind her clenched teeth. Anna looked over Pabbie's head at Kristoff who was faring just about the same as she was, holding the queen's legs down as she began to struggle. It wasn't until the old troll put a hand over the knife wound that Elsa began to scream in earnest.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut and continued holding her older sister down, bent over the queen so that her entire body weight rested on her upper arms. Elsa's hands suddenly clenched around Anna's forearms, nails digging painfully into her skin as she writhed. The princess could feel the biting cold creeping into Elsa's palms, her powers struggling to be free, but just as quickly the frost retreated and the young queen thrashed all the harder. Anna tried to drown out the screaming, she tried telling herself this was the only way, but she just wasn't strong enough. When she opened her eyes, tears rolling off the tip of her nose and splattering against Elsa's forehead, she caught the pained look on Kristoff's face as he stared out the window, visibly shaking. When he noticed Anna watching him, he swiveled his head around and mouthed 'I'm sorry' over and over as Elsa's screams reached a cataclysmic pitch.

The banging made the two lovers jump in unison, and they turned to see the heavy wood door shake as an armored fist beat against it.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"Queen Elsa, what's going on in there?"

And then came Olaf's voice, as cheery as ever despite what was transpiring on the other side of the door. "Hello my metal encrusted friends!"

"Stand aside snowman. Her Majesty is being attacked!" That was Malkof's voice.

"No, no, no, you're confused. Queen Elsa's being healed! If you could just—"

There was the sound of a blade being pulled from a sheath and Anna felt her heart sink.

"Oh look, that's the second time I've been impaled," Olaf chuckled.

_Just keep them busy, Olaf. _Anna pleaded, sweat rolling down her neck as she fought to keep Elsa pinned to the bed as she thrashed. Her sister might have been about as big around as a stick but she was deceptively strong. Anna guessed it had to be an effect of her magic, but if Pabbie had capped it, how and when she wasn't able to tell, then this was just her raw strength coming out, and it blew Anna away.

"Hold her still," Pabbie hissed, eyes scrunched closed while his hand quivered over the knife wound. He'd stopped singing only seconds ago and it only made the pounding and shouting on the other side of the door seem that much louder. Anna even thought she could hear the sound of wood splintering.

"Hurry, Pabbie!"

"Hold her!"

Small rivulets of blood began leaking from the four inch gash, trickling down Elsa's smooth stomach and staining the mattress even more. At about the same time the blade came shooting out of the queen's abdomen her eyes flew open and locked on Anna's, and her sister felt her entire body freeze. The cerulean blue that had once dominated her sister's beautiful eyes was gone, replaced by a swirling tempest of gray and white. Elsa took one last ragged breath, body arched with pain, before it all became too much and she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Anna, Anna!" Pabbie was shaking the young princess back to her senses. "Take the blade and move over to the door. Quickly. Kristoff, you as well. They cannot know I was here."

Before either of the two could protest, Pabbie opened his hand and blew a blast of winter air into the room, encasing everything within a twenty food radius in frost. Anna felt her breath catch as the cold hit her, and suddenly realized what the little troll was doing.

"Move the dresser away from the door, Kristoff," Anna whispered. The mountain man did as he was told and shifted the heavy wood dresser. The second the barricade was out of the way, six heavily armored guards stumbled in, slipping on ice as they went.

"Guards, seize—"

Physician Malkof stopped dead in his tracks taking in the ice covered room and the young princess standing at the foot of the queen's bed, knife shard in hand.

"I…uh…" Anna had about thirty seconds to come up with a believable story. Since Pabbie was quite literally a stone in the corner, well hidden by the shadow of Elsa's eight foot dresser, there was only one logical explanation Anna could come up with on short notice.

"Acting Majesty, what have you—"

"Physician Malkof, see to the queen," Anna said standing at her full height and using the same firm but gentle tone she'd heard her sister use when speaking to the staff. Thankfully her voice didn't crack, furthering her authoritative appearance, but she still felt like she was participating in a bad pantomime.

Malkof blinked, suddenly at a loss for words. When he didn't move from his position by the door, Anna scowled and raised the broken, bloody blade.

"Physician Malkof, it appears my sister's magic is stronger than we previously thought. Her body rejected the broken blade. Now, tend to my sister, _your queen_."

"Of course, Acting Majesty," Malkof mumbled, a look of bewilderment and, if Anna was reading him correctly, oddly disappointment.

_Why disappointment?_

Anna watched the little man move back into the hallway where his medicine bag rested against the wall and approach Elsa's bed hesitantly. He took one look at the slowly spreading blood stain and paled, furthering Anna's confusion. In all her year living sequestered behind the castle walls, Anna had never seen the old Physician react in such a way. Granted his queen was lying in a pool of her own blood, a four inch blade tip forced from her body, but Anna knew he'd seen his fair share of ghastly things and this shouldn't have phased him.

An uneasy feeling twisted in Anna's stomach, but she squelched it under a tide of pretend authority. Right now she had to be the strong one, for Elsa's sake. Turning to the tangle of guards still trying to get their feet under them on the icy floor, she dismissed them to their rightful posts. They turned, if not a little awkwardly, and quickly made their way from the room, leaving Anna alone with Malkof and Kristoff.

It took the Physician another half hour to stem the flow of blood and suture the wound completely closed. When he was finished, the older man stood with a groan and gathered his bag.

"I've done all I can. Her Majesty will have to do the rest. If you'd prefer me to remain by her bedside tonight—"

"That won't be necessary," Anna said from her chair next to the fire, her knees drawn up to her chin. In the firelight her blue eyes seemed to glow and dance as she watched the Physician. Malkof seemed to visibly relax and walked over to Anna, ignoring Kristoff completely.

"I do not know how she did it, but your sister has defied the odds. It seems that she was, in fact, born under a lucky star like your mother and father said," Malkof smiled but Anna saw no happiness behind his eyes.

"We both were," Anna replied quietly, glancing at her fiancé who gave her a bright smile.

"Should her Majesty need any more assistance, please send for me. Until then, I believe I'll retire to my apartment. It has been a….trying day."

"Thank you, Physician Malkof. Should we need you, I'll send a runner."

And with that the little man departed, shutting the door quietly behind him. Anna didn't move until she heard the last of his footfalls drift away down the hall. Only then did she allow herself to breathe a deep sigh of relief. The young princess threw out her arms and slid to the floor, headless that the fabric of her skirt was bunching up around her waist.

"You know, after today I think I'm going to need a vacation," Anna said halfway between the wingback chair and the floor.

"My mountain cabin is always open," Kristoff said with a sly smile.

"Oh I'm sure my sister will let," Anna cleared her throat and attempted to imitate her sisters disapproving voice, "an unmarried couple traipse unsupervised through the forest."

"She could come too, you know." Kristoff laughed at the look Anna gave him, feeling all the stress of the day drain away. Anna laughed as well, reveling in the light hearted feeling swirling around her. Her sister was officially on the mend and she couldn't have been happier. The sound of stone rolling across hardwood brought the lover's attention to the troll popping up between them.

"Young princess, it is time I took my leave. I trust that your sister will heal quickly, and should you need me, you know where to look."

Anna slid down fully to the floor and wrapped Pabbie in a hug she wasn't sure he could feel. "Thank you, Grand Pabbie. I owe you so much."

Pabbie patted her head and returned the hug, though his was more rough and vice-like than Anna's. "I have watched the two of you since your father brought you to me that night Elsa struck you. You have both grown into exceptional women, and it is my honor to serve the Arendelle throne with such a magnificent queen and her equally magnificent sister standing by her side."

Anna grinned till it hurt and hugged the old troll one last time before Pabbie turned away. Kristoff had opened the door to check for guards, and, upon finding none, motioned that the coast was clear. Olaf was still there and gave the mountain man a cheery wave before dozing back to sleep. Kristoff still found it eerie that the animated snowman acted so human, even going so far as to sleep whenever he deemed it necessary.

"I'm not carrying you out this time. You can walk," the mountain man grumbled as he watched Pabbie prepare to pill bug into himself.

"And risk a servant seeing me? No, my blond son, you will carry me." Pabbie smiled broadly at his adoptive son and rolled into a ball before Kristoff could say more.

"Fine, you old rock troll. Be thankful I don't drop you into a river." Kristoff tuned to his fiancé and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back before morning. Are you sure you're going to be alright without me?"

"I think the worst is behind us," Anna said glancing over at her sleeping sister. Her breathing had evened out and now it just looked like she was coming off a bad cold rather than nearly bleeding to death with a knife shard lodged under her ribs.

"Alright, but please at least lock the door. For my mental wellbeing."

"Fine, fine. Lock it I shall the moment you are past the threshold," Anna said sarcastically. Kristoff made a face at her as he bent down and hefted his adopted grandfather onto his wide shoulders, grunting as he shifted the boulder into place.

"They never get easier to lift. One of these days they'll break my back, and then where will I be?"

"Solely at my mercy, I should think," Anna said with a wicked smile that brought a line of blush to her fiancé's face. Bidding his love goodbye one last time, the mountain man set off for his cart where Sven would no doubt be waiting impatiently.


	8. Chapter 8

Anna didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing she recalled was watching Kristoff head out of the castle gates for the second time and then sitting on the bed next to her sister. Next thing she knew she was laying on her side brushing a lock of Elsa's platinum hair off her nose and squinting into the low burning fire. Blinking as her eyes adjusted, Anna looked over at her sister's sleeping form, chest rising and falling in a rhythmic patter. Judging from how dark the sky was beyond the tall triangular window across from Elsa's bed, it had to be around two or three in the morning and Anna groaned softly, snuggling close to her sister and burying her face in the crook of her neck.

"You're safe," Anna whispered against her sister's skin, a small smile pulling at the princess's lips. She knew Elsa was in one of those deep dreamless sleeps the Physician often spoke of when dealing with someone who had been gravely wounded. It was her body's way of making sure she healed, and Anna made sure she was as quiet as possible so as to not disturb her.

She was about to drift back to sleep, the stress of the last few hours finally leaving her, when the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly prickled. Eyes flying open, the young princess froze, unsure what had alerted her but unable to shake the feeling that something was amiss. Slowly she jacked herself up on her elbow and turned to face the whole of the room behind her. Dancing orange ghost lights flashed across her vision and she cursed quietly, temporarily night blind from looking into the fire. Rubbing her eyes, Anna squinted into the darkness. A shadow dislodged from the wall and she barely had time to draw breath to scream before a vice-like hand caught her around her throat and squeezed. She felt the wicked tip of a knife press into her neck and froze.

"One word, little princess, and you'll be wearing a red smile, ear to ear," a husky voice raped.

Had Anna been thinking rationally she would have remained still until the man with the knife tired of her and moved away, but the young princess wasn't about to let him move. Her left hand swung around and connected with what felt like the assassin's mouth. She felt teeth scrape her knuckles and winced. The man gave a startled yelp and tumbled away, taking the knife with him. Anna didn't realize how lucky her strike had been as she slid from the bed in a tangle of covers, thrashing against the floor until she was able to get her feet under her. Had the assassin been holding the knife with his right hand he would have automatically slit her throat as he fell. Anna didn't think about any of this as she planted herself firmly between the man with the knife and her helpless sister.

"You're not touching my sister!" Anna seethed, rage replacing fear. There wasn't a snowballs chance in hell he was getting anywhere near Elsa.

The assassin jumped to his feet, lips covered in blood. He spat once and cleared away the rest of the red stain with the back of his hand. "Little palace bitch, you're going to pay for that."

Anna kept her mouth closed and focused on the man. He was bigger than the last assassin in the square, broad through the shoulders and big in the arms. Around his waist hung a short curved scabbard with two small belt knives shoved into sheaths on either side of the sword. He was holding one of those belt knives in his hand, twirling the blade as he approached the princess, but, unbeknownst to this poor fool, Anna wasn't as helpless as she appeared.

After the Great Freeze and the incident with Hans on the frozen fjord, Anna had taken it upon herself to learn as much as she could about hand-to-hand combat. At first no one would even humor her, not even the guards. Their rebukes had been gentle but she'd sensed the sneers in their voice and saw the laughter in their eyes.

"Fighting should be left to the men, Highness. Don't trouble yourself. We're here to protect you."

Even Kristoff had balked at the idea of teaching his fiancé anything but relented after Anna's insisting became a daily irritation. But the lessons were halfhearted and usually ended with a flustered Anna and a giggling Kristoff. He just couldn't take it seriously. It wasn't until Captain Revel got wind of the princess's intentions that he approached her one quiet evening while she tended to her horse in the stables and offered to show her a few things under the cover of darkness.

"We cannot be seen, Highness. It is unfit for a Lady such as yourself to be seen grappling with an unmarried man, much less one of your royal guards, but I know why you want to learn and I will teach you what I know."

That had been the beginning of the friendship between Anna and the young Captain. She'd sneak off after the staff had gone to bed and meet Revel in the weapons locker next to the guard house. There he'd taught her the basics of ground grappling, being careful never to be improper and watching where he placed his hands. He taught her hand-to-hand combat, some sword play, knife fighting and a few flashy moves he'd learned from an Oriental trader. Two years they'd sparred nearly every evening and Anna felt Revel's lessons flooding back as she watched the assassin approach with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

The man struck first, slashing at Anna with his blade, but he was putting too much weight on the balls of his feet and leaning to far forward making him unbalanced. The princess jumped back, blade whistling past her, and delivered a solid blow to his right cheek. Before the assassin could recover, Anna stepped to the left away from the blade, grabbed the man's wrist, planted her leg behind his left knee and pulled. The effect was instant and the assassin was thrown to the ground, tumbling across the floor until his momentum slowed, knife lost. Anna could have whooped with joy, Revel would have been proud of that throw, had the man not scrambled to his feet with a look of utter rage flashing across his face and drew his sword. He didn't give any taunts, just launched into a blinding flurry of attack.

Anna ducked and blocked where she could, the two dancing around the bedchamber for what seemed like hours but was only minutes until the assassin managed to break the princess's defenses and strike her across the left cheek with the butt of his cutlass. Anna spun with the force of the blow, seeing stars, and had just enough time to stumble away from a thrust that probably would have put the blade through her stomach and out her back. Instinct moving faster than her mind, she whirled to the side locking her hip with his as she grabbed hold of his bladed hand and yanked. With nowhere for his arm to go and his elbow only able to bend so far, the assassin was forced to drop his cutlass or risk Anna snapping his arm at the joint.

"One step closer and I'll—"

Anna felt the assassin's leg snake around hers before he twisted, throwing the princess in one direction while her leg remained planted. She heard an audible snap seconds before the pain set in and she wilted, breath leaving her lungs. Anna found her voice a second later and screamed, white hot agony racing up her leg. The assassin, seeming unperturbed, straightened and drew his second knife. Anna watched him through watery eyes as he calmly walked towards her. His booted foot snapped out before she could avoid it and connected with her stomach, driving the air from her body in a pained wheeze. Anna was sure she'd felt a few ribs fracture under the blow but was unable to do much else other than whimper on the floor. Slowly the assassin turned back to his original purpose in the room, a sick smile showing off his yellow teeth.


	9. Chapter 9

Kristoff trudged out of the stables, his shoulders and back on fire as he attempted to rub the knots out of his muscles. Carrying Pabbie to and from the castle had nearly done him in. The old troll only got heavier with age. In fact, all the trolls had gotten heavier.

_That or all this castle living is starting to make me soft._

Sven didn't seem to have a problem pulling the cart, so it had to be him. Sighing, exhaustion pulling him ever closer to the cobblestones underfoot, he made his way across the courtyard, looking forward to the chance to collapse onto Anna's bed and finally get some rest. It was still a few hours before dawn, and any sleep would be welcome. After the events of today the mountain man just wanted to drift into nothingness for a while and give himself time to process.

He entered through the servant's door on the other side of the castle courtyard, knowing that with such heavy guard around the main doors he'd have to wait for a squadron of metal clad order-takers to let him enter. Not that he was upset with the levels of security he just wanted to get into bed as fast as possible. Beyond the threshold stretched a long hallway closed off by a second door that led into the castles main hall. Kristoff was surprised to see this second door set ajar, lances of golden light streaming through the gap and brightening the hallway considerably. Usually Kai was better at making sure that door remained shut, but the mountain man was too tired to care and shoulder it open. He barely had enough to time dodge a squadron of guards racing past in a triangular formation, lances held ready at their shoulders.

Suddenly alert, Kristoff followed the squad with his eyes and watched them disappear down a second hallway which lead to the kitchens and atrium where the royal food was grown during the winter season.

_Maybe a training exercise?_

When the sound of more metal shod feet closing in on the hall reach his already perked ears, Kristoff knew something had happened and his exhaustion was forgotten. Deciding his best chance at finding out what was going on lay with the first squadron, the mountain man took off towards the kitchen where he heard shouting voices the moment he entered the long corridor. They were to jumbled and far off to clearly make out, but the tone was recognizably angry.

"…step closer and I'll slit her throat!"

Kristoff nearly miss stepped and went down but managed to grab hold of the kitchen door's wood paneling and haul himself up. There were at least ten guards in the kitchen, lances clutched to their shoulders like a small forest of gleaming metal spikes. A few guards had their swords drawn and every man was set like a coiled spring waiting to snap at a moment's notice. Kristoff slid in past the last row of men who whipped around to look at him but did not break formation.

"Let her go, Malkof!" Captain Revel demanded, his voice dooming in the closed space like a thunderclap.

_Malkof?_

Kristoff's mind tumbled over the name as he inched closer to where the guards were packed the tightest. Through the gaps between legs and arm, the mountain man could see there was about twenty feet of open ground between the royal Physician and the squad. He was huddled against one of the three hearths in the room, but that was the limit of Kristoff's vision until he finally managed to scoot around the last guard and the room suddenly opened up.

Malkof was indeed trapped against a hearth, pinned like a rat in a corner, his eyes wild with fear. His medical bag was next to him, its contents strewn across the floor from where it had been kicked over. Kristoff saw at least a two week ration of food there along with a few folded papers and what looked like a fresh green tunic. It didn't take a scholar to understand what the royal Physician had been planning, and Kristoff felt his blood begin to boil. So, this was the man mastermind, or another pawn depending on how things worked out, but he was still an assassin's accomplice.

"Put the knife down, Malkof and come quietly," Revel said again taking a fractional step towards the man.

"Stay back or I'll bleed her dry, you just watch me," Malkof raged pressing the tip of his dagger harder into the servant girl's throat. The Physician held her in front of him like a shield, his head barely peeking over the top of her shoulder. She gave a whimper of pain but didn't move, eyes shining with terror.

Revel seemed at a loss as to what to do, his sword and lance useless in such tight confines. He could charge the man but had no doubt the second he was close enough Malkof would kill the girl. The guards would get their man but at the cost of a life, and that wasn't a price the young Captain was willing to pay. Not for a traitor to the crown.

No one seemed to notice Kristoff standing to one side watching the drama unfold with barely contained rage. Elsa may have not been family yet, but he saw her as an older sister regardless which meant the overprotectiveness he felt towards Anna he also felt towards her. This man had tried to kill a member of his family, was now threatening the life of another innocent, and the mountain man wasn't about to let him leave this kitchen unless he was dead or in chains.

He took a quiet step forward, leveling himself with the first line of guard to his left. One of the men gave him a sidelong glance but quickly snapped his eyes back to Malkof when the serving girl gave another squeak of pain. The crazed Physician had shifted places, edging his way towards the door while dragging his hostage with him. Revel had no choice but to give up ground, seething as he did. Kristoff moved with the squad until his hip bumped into a tall stack of oranges, upsetting a few that nearly fell to the floor. Quick as a snake he caught them and an idea sudden hit as he stared down at the firm orange fruit in his hand. Malkof and the girl were directly across from him. The Physician was blind to anyone aside from Revel, so Kristoff took the opportunity and slid in front of the squad, took careful aim, and let the fruit fly when the little man's head popped up again. It was a blind throw that on any other day would have missed spectacularly, but not today. Today the ripe fruit caught the little man squarely between the eyes and he stumbled back with a startled squawk. That was all the opening Revel needed. The guard captain rushed in and snatched the serving girl away as the rest of his men, those close enough anyway, dove on Malkof and wrestled him into submission.

"That was an amazingly stupid thing to do," Revel said looking over at Kristoff with a series of mixed emotions flashing across his face. Relief seemed to win the battle and the young captain smiled. "Thank you, Master Kristoff. Your fruit tossing skills continue to go unmatched."

Kristoff shrugged, "It's the least I could do." Then more seriously, "Is he the one responsible for the attack this morning?"

"My guess? Yes. Poor Sonja here walked in on the traitor packing his bags and managed to scream when he attacked her. Luckily one of my guards was close enough to hear and raised the alarm. Judging from the contents of his bag, our dear Physician was planning on a long trip across the sea."

"A long jump with a short rope seems like a better idea," Kristoff growled watching four guards haul a red faced, swearing Malkof to his feet. They began to drag him away when the Physician spotted Kristoff and struggled towards him, teeth gritted in a vicious snarl.

"There were always two! Do you hear me?! There were always two!"

The guards got the little man under control and had begun to drag him out of the kitchen when Revel called for them to stop.

"Two of what?"

Malkof's laugh was like something out of hell, the whites of his eyes glinting in the firelight like some kind of crazed demon. "There were always two. One to act as the decoy while the other makes the killing blow."

Revel and Kristoff seemed to realize at the same horrifying moment what the deranged man was talking about. In the square that morning someone had called out for Elsa to wait seconds before the assassin struck. Now here was Malkof redirecting the attention of the castle guards so his partner could….

Kristoff took off like a shot, running full tilt down the hallway and across the great hall until he was at the base of the spiral staircase. His mind didn't even register the two guards dead on either side of the railings, dark pools of blood staining the floor, as he began to climb taking three stairs at a time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Note:** Ok my lovely readers! Because it's Christmas Eve, I will leave you with this chapter as a snack before the last two are published tomorrow. Enjoy!

Elsa couldn't remember a time when she'd been in so much pain. Pabbie hadn't lied when he'd said removing the dagger shard from her chest would hurt, but remarkably she could weather that type of pain just fine. As a child attempting to harness her powers there had been many times Elsa had accidently gotten too cold to fast. The memory of accidentally freezing her bath water came to mind. It had taken the young princess and her parents three hours to chip her out and when she finally slid free from the ice she'd suffered minor burns from the chest down. Another time had been when word of her parent's death at sea had finally reached the young queen and her sister. Elsa had thrown herself into her room, leaving dinner in frantic rush, and managed to close her door just as the full force of her grief struck. That had been the first time she'd truly felt what it was like to be cold. She'd curled into a ball in the middle of her room, long shards and thick blankets of ice overtaking every inch of space. Elsa had gotten so cold she'd frozen her clothing to her skin, shattering her gloves as she fought to contain her power. That had hurt, but it was all bearable because it was physical pain. What Pabbie was doing to her power, that's what wrenched the torturous screams from her throat.

It had begun during the old troll's song. Elsa knew a little about troll magic from her books and from speaking to Bulda and knew that most of their spells were done during song. So when Pabbie had begun to sing, Elsa felt the effects of his power immediately. It was gentle at first, probing her mind for where access to her power lie. The feeling of having another being touching her subconscious had been a little disconcerting but otherwise non-obtrusive. Pabbie was anything if not discrete, skirting around anything that didn't have to do with locating her power. It wasn't until he'd found the secret pocket in her subconscious that the true discomfort began.

Sensing the queen's power, Pabbie seized ahold of it like a fisherman hooking a catch. The kickback had nearly brought Elsa off the bed, but Anna was there to keep her still. Troll magic struggled against the young queen's arctic magic in a brief game of tug-of-war. Pabbie proved to be the stronger opponent and successfully pushed Elsa's magic back, condensing it as he went. Once the arctic magic had relented under his pushing, the old troll cast his spell like a net, ensnaring all of Elsa's winter power. That's when the monstrous pain hit a high note.

For thirteen years Elsa had struggled to conceal her power, doing her damnedest to let nothing show. It had been a major undertaking keeping all that magic locked within her slowly growing body, but she'd wrestled it into submission as best she could. Still, it lingered under her skin like a demon waiting to be free, so close she could practically smell the winter air and taste ice during every waking moment. It wasn't until the coronation and her accidental freezing of her kingdom that her power had finally freed itself. Thirteen years of pent up magic had burst from the queen like a disintegrating dam and the storm had buried Arendelle under almost thirty feet of ice and snow. So it was safe to say that Elsa never wanted her powers restrained again for fear of the backlash and back build. When Pabbie's spell suddenly blanketed her own power, smothering it under an impenetrable barrier, Elsa's body fought with all its might to remove the block.

Pressure quickly replaced the careful balance the young queen had established within herself. Her magic was a wild thing, untamed until recently, and when it felt the smothering effects of Pabbie's magic it writhed and twisted inside Elsa like a snake in a bag. She fought to keep herself in control, to not let fear and panic steal her reason, but with each passing second the pressure was becoming too much for her body to contain. Suddenly she was a child again, holding back her powers like a swimmer holding their breath. All Elsa wanted to do was breathe, to push her head above the surface and suck in as much air as possible, but she knew if she did she'd only hurt Anna again. The fear and panic were so acute in her mind, the memories of what her power had done to the ones she loved to vivid, Elsa struggled with every fiber of her being to put as much distance between her and her sister as humanly possible.

When the knife shard finally slid free of the young queen's body, the effect was like a door being ripped off its hinges by a tornado. A vacuum of pressure and power swallowed Elsa, pulling her consciousness from her body as quickly as Pabbie had pulled the blade free, and she took one last ragged breath before going under. In the darkness of her mind she barely remembered where or who she was, but there was silence all around her, blissful unending silence. No screaming, no pain, just nothingness on all sides.

The young queen could have stayed there for eternity had a distant blue glow not roused her from her floating. It hovered at the edge of a black horizon, visible but impossibly far away. Still, the light reached her and she instinctively turned towards it out of curiosity. A whisper slid past her ear, to faint to properly hear but it was enough to snag her attention. Elsa felt the snowflakes before she saw them, little speckles of cold hitting her skin and melting a second later. She raised her hand, her skin glowing ethereally in the gray darkness, and watched half a dozen little flakes alight on her palm. Where was this coming from? Elsa looked up at the blackness overhead and was surprised to find that gray clouds had appeared, hovering only feet above her. Where had that come from?

A sudden shout in the darkness, loud as a cannon blast, made her jump. The voice echoed for what seemed an eternity, bounding and rebounding all around her like distant thunder. Fully at attention, the young queen turned in a slow circle as the snow began to swirl around her, cold fingers lingering on her exposed skin and raising goosebumps. Another half heard whisper whip past her ear, and Elsa turned chasing the phantom. Another cry shattered the icy silence and made her heart skip a beat, recognition setting in. Was that Anna? Abandoning her place in the snow, Elsa took off at a run towards the direction of where she'd heard her sister's voice, but no matter how hard she ran the distance never shortened.

"Anna?" Elsa shouted into the blowing snow. Already it was getting difficult to see where she was running, but the ever constant blue glow in the distance acted as a beacon and she raced towards it.

_Run little queen—_

_ Run to us…_

Elsa heard it clearly this time, the whispers that had been brushing her ears. It sounded like sleet on cobblestones, raspy and faint, but she'd heard it clear as day.

"Hello?"

_So she can hear us— _

_ Can hear me…_

"Who are—"

"You're not touching my sister!" Anna's voice boomed in the steadily growing snowstorm, rage laced in every syllable.

"Anna, where are you!?" Elsa pleaded spinning in a tight circle trying to decide which direction to run. This was just like the blizzard on the fjord two years ago, disorientation and desperation pulling at her from all sides, and the young queen was starting to panic.

_No running will get you there—_

_ Get you there…_

The eerie whispers taunted. Elsa felt a cold hand on her shoulder and spun but there was no one there. Another hand trailed through her platinum blond hair, but when she went to bat it away she felt nothing but frost.

"One step closer," Anna's voice boomed, and it sounded like she was snarling, "and I'll—"

The princess suddenly stopped, a pained cry finishing her sentence. Elsa felt dread wash over her and searched desperately for a way out of this nightmare. Where was Anna? What was happening? Why was the snow sticking her to body like….like…

_You cannot save her—_

_ Save her…_

_ She will be lost to you again. Lost because you are powerless—_

_ Powerless…_

"Shut up!" Elsa clapped her hands over her ears, but the whispers still made it past her barricade and into her brain.

_But we can save her—_

_ Save Anna…_

"How?!"

_Free us—_

_ Free me…_

"I don't understand!" Elsa screamed into the snowstorm, the wind whipping at her face and stinging her skin like hundreds of tiny needles. She turned once more in the direction of the faint blue glow hovering at the edge of an impossibly far horizon and jumped back in surprise when a face emerged out of the swirling flurries. It wasn't a distinguishable face, no familiarity to it, but Elsa could clearly see the faint outline of a head, two eyes, a nose and a mouth form out of the snowflakes and hover in front of her for half a heartbeat before disappearing.

_You are in danger, Elsa. We are in danger—_

_ Great danger…_

_ And you are powerless to stop this danger from killing you unless you let us help—_

_ Let me help…_

"How? I don't even know what's going on!"

_Use your magic—_

_ Our magic…_

"But Pabbie capped it. I can't feel it anymore."

_Dear child, it circles you even now—_

_ All around you…_

Elsa was about to retort when she felt another brush of coldness on her shoulders. This time she didn't shy away, letting the fingers of ice trail along her skin. When she opened her eyes again the face had returned and was hovering feet from her, features flickering as wind blew the flurries about.

"But even if I could get to it, I don't know if I can control it. There's been too much of a back build."

_You must protect yourself—_

_ Protect us…_

_ The danger is getting closer—_

_ Free us now…_

"But…"

Elsa heard a sound like a boot connecting with a sack of potatoes and heard Anna gasp and whimper in pain. Every fell away until all she could think about was her sister and what was happening beyond the confines of her mind. Anna needed her right now. The young queen shakily raised her hands, hand that were now glowing a faint ice blue, and knew her power given voice was right. She could sense the danger looming ever closer like a shadow over a grave. If she didn't react, didn't unlock her power, she'd die and so would Anna.

"How do I free you," she asked in a fearful whisper.

_I will show you—_

_ We will show you…_

The face in the snow suddenly lunged for the queen and she felt bone chillingly cold arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her close. Elsa gasped at the sudden cold, her body tensing, but it quickly evaporated, seeping into her skin like rainwater through soil. The blue glow that had once been a distant star on the horizon raced towards her like a cannon ball and struck her in the chest just as hard. At first there was just exquisite, mind numbing pain, and Elsa felt something snap inside her mind. Then there was a flash of cold heat in her stomach that swelled until it burned behind her eyes like a second sun. And suddenly emotions fell away, feeling fell away, everything that had once made the young queen human slipped into the darkness as the need for self-preservation took precedence over Elsa's mind. Exhaling, feeling winters frost dart between her teeth, Elsa opened her eyes and slowly rose from her bed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Note:** Ok, ok, I know I said I wouldn't post any more until tomorrow, but I'm a horrible tease! Here's the second to last chapter. I hope you all enjoy and have a Merry Christmas/Happy Yule!

Anna tasted blood and spat onto the carpet, head heavy with fog. The assassin had stepped past her and was closing in on Elsa's bed, belt knife in hand. She could see the dangerous glint of the metal as he moved on stealthy feet and struggled to stand. The cutlass she had wrestled from him lay only inches away and she grabbed hold, jamming the tip of the blade into the floor and heaving herself onto her only other functioning knee. Suddenly Anna was back on the fjord watching helplessly as Hans stalked towards a weeping Elsa, sword raised ready to cleave her head from her shoulders. The terror of that moment came flooding back like it did in her nightmares.

"Get away from her!" Anna screamed as loudly as she could, hoping that if she distracted the man for a few seconds longer the guards would arrive. The assassin's eyes flicked over to her but he seemed unconcerned about the little princess and gave her a tight, malicious smile. The bastard was enjoying this! Well, that is until a wave of bitter cold washed over him. Snapping his head around, the assassin was just in time to see the queen slide from her bed and lock nearly glowing white eyes on him. He seemed genuinely surprised to see his query confronting him and hesitated, and that was his first and last mistake. Elsa lashed out, throwing her right hand into the space between the two and letting an arctic blast slam into a stunned assassin.

Anna could hardly believe what she was seeing. The assassin rolled past her, arms and legs flopping uselessly as the brunt of Elsa's power assaulted him like a maelstrom. He didn't stop until he'd reached the far wall next to the door and struggled to stand. Clothing frozen solid, he was only able to straighten fractionally before another arctic blast hit him, and he covered himself in a vain attempt at protecting himself from the cold. When Elsa's barrage ended, Anna heard the unmistakable click of a small crossbow being loaded and watched the assassin raise the shaking weapon until it was level with the queen.

"No, Elsa!"

The arrow leapt from the small weapon, cutting through the cold air with an audible hiss. Anna tried to watch the flight of the deadly projectile but lost it in the darkness. The thud of the bolt finding its mark made bile force its way into Anna's throat and she nearly gagged. She turned, fully expecting to see her sister clutching a crossbow bolt protruding from her chest, but the arrow never made its journey to the queen. Instead, it had buried itself in a sheet of translucent blue green ice feet from Elsa.

The queen lowered her hand and the ice wall fell, taking the bolt with it. Now there was true fear in the assassin's eyes as he watched Elsa stalk towards him, turbulent white gray eyes alive with power and rage. When she raised her hands for the third time the temperature in the room took a massive dive, long shards of ice crystalizing along the ceiling and walls, groaning and crackling as it spread. Behind the queen a flurry of angry snowflakes was quickly forming like a buzzing halo.

Anna knew what was about to happen, her memory flashing back to the moment in Elsa's ice fortress when her sister had struck her with her power, and scrambled behind the first piece of furniture she could find. The chair would provide little protection from what was about to come, but something was better than nothing. That thought had just left her head when she heard the concussion of Elsa's power rip from her body and felt knives of ice rattled against her makeshift shield. The temperature in the room continued to drop until Anna could clearly see her breath hovering around her head like a fog. When she was sure the coast was clear, the young princess peaked over the side of the chair and gasped at the damage. Thick sheets of ice covered everything, locking furniture in at least a foot of glistening blue wonder. Even the fire in the fireplace had frozen over, tongue of red and orange extinguished but their icy fossils remaining.

With this much ice coating everything, Anna instinctively knew the assassin hadn't stood a chance. She glanced over at the other side of the room and felt her stomach twist. He had frozen in mid scream, hands out in front of him as he tried to ward off the blow, his cold dead eyes shining with a primal fear.

_Serves the bastard right for trying to kill the Snow Queen,_ Anna thought as she huddled behind the chair, body shivering. Movement brought Anna's attention back to the center of the room. Her sister had moved a few steps closer to the assassin, each footfall echoing with busts of glowing arctic blue frost. She stopped in front of the dead man, head tilted to one side in an eerier expression of curiosity.

Slowly Anna stood, hissing as she did, and limped out around the chair using the cutlass as a makeshift cane. No doubt the bastard had broken her knee when he'd flipped her. She'd be hobbling around on crutches for months, and the idea galled her to no end. No sparing matched with Revel meant her evenings had just gotten a little less bright. She'd have to berate the Captain next time she saw him. Apparently he needed to be a little more aggressive if she was going to learn how to take a punch and not fold. Anna carefully picked her way across the ice and leaned heavily against one of Elsa's frozen bed posts, shivering as the true extent of the rooms arctic temperature hit her. She was still wearing her sundress which gave her no warmth or protection. Had the blankets on the bed not been locked under a foot of ice she'd have wrapped herself in those.

"I t-think y-y-you got h-him," Anna shivered, left hand across her chest attempting to rub warmth back into her right shoulder.

Elsa's head whipped around at the sound of Anna's voice and the young princess felt the same primal fear the assassin had before he died ripple through her body. Turbulent white gray eyes aglow with power locked onto Anna's blue one and held her in place like a wolf staring down a potential meal. Anna felt herself shrink back even though Elsa was across the room.

_No, Elsa, what's happened to you?_

Anna tried to swallow her fear but the lump in her throat just wouldn't go away. Instinctively she knew the woman standing across the room from her wasn't her sister. Her sister didn't have eyes like predator. This was the animalistic fear every human felt when threatened taking on a physical form. Elsa was like a wounded animal lashing out at her attacker, but Anna had a sinking feeling her sister wasn't seeing the princess in front of her but rather another enemy that needed eradicating.

"Elsa it's m-me," Anna said moving away from the bed towards the window with lurching steps. Her broken knee made it hard to keep her balance on the ice and when the tip of the cutlass slipped on a particularly slick bubble of ice she planted both feet for balance and nearly went down as pain swallowed her leg. Recovering quickly, Anna braced herself against one of the overturned chairs and stood again, a shaky laugh squeezed from her throat.

"Guess I'm n-n-not as c-careful as you on—"

The cutlass handle in Anna's hand suddenly frozen over and exploded, shards of metal biting into her palm. The young princess screamed, toppling over the ice encased chair and hitting the ground with a jarring thud. Whimpering in pain, she clutched her hand to her chest, hot blood pooling in her palm and spattering the floor where it froze almost instantly. Past the roaring sea in her years, Anna heard the cracking and splintering of ice as her sister neared and knew if she didn't get up she was as good as dead.

Suddenly the temperature in the room took another drastic dive, and Anna felt the effects like a physical blow pushing her back towards the frozen floor. It wasn't just cold in Elsa's room, it was stupid cold, it was mind numbingly cold, it was deathly cold. Anna's breath didn't even have the heat energy to fog as she heaved herself up onto her one good knee, every inch of exposed skin frighteningly numb. It was like being back on the fjord again two years ago. Slowly freezing to death, fingers turning blue, Anna had felt what it was truly like to be cold, and she was reliving that nightmare again in her sister's room.

"P-p-please, Elsa it's m-me! It's Anna!"

The queen took a predatory step forward, snow flurries building behind her once again like a cloud of angry hornets. Anna had no choice but to use the iced over chair as her support, leaning half on half off, her left arm shaking with the effort of holding herself up while the right hung uselessly at her side. A blast of arctic wind buffeted her and she hissed through the pain, head bowed.

"Elsa, I'm…n-n-not going t-to hurt…y-y-you."

The queen didn't seem to think so and raised her right hand, face still an emotionless mask but eyes burning with anger. She channeled the flurries until they'd accumulated into a cohesive ball at her palm. Anna saw her death looming toward her and knew that this time no amount of love or tears would bring her back from the grave. But it wasn't fear she felt staring at the blue ball in her sister's hand, it was sadness. This wasn't Elsa, this was her fear, and when her sister finally awoke from the spell her powers had put her under, Anna knew what she'd find waiting for her. It was a horrifying mental image, Elsa's nightmare made real once more, her sister dead by her hands. Had Anna had the ability to shed tears she would have, but as it was she decided to do the most reckless thing that came to mind since death was surely imminent. She dove for her sister and wrapped her long arms around her neck, squeezing tightly. This close and she could feel the bite of the magic in Elsa's palm like a knife pressing into her gut. This close and the cold rolling from the queen was completely shattering, Anna's skin freezing almost instantly. This close and Anna knew her life was forfeit, but she wouldn't go without holding her sister one last time.

"Control it," Anna whispered into her sister's ear, teeth gritted against the pain, "Control it, control it, _control it! _Elsa I k-know y-you can _control it! _Please, d-don't shut m-me out again. Come back." Then more quietly, "I love you." She held onto her sister, a woman who she'd loved since birth despite all her flaws and shortcomings, refusing to let go even in death.

But death never came.

Anna was prepared to feel the cloying hands of death drag her back under like they'd done two years ago, but they were absent today. The blackness never came. The emptiness never came. Anna opened her eyes ever so slightly, eyelashes momentarily sticking together. The angry snow flurries had died away and, if it wasn't her imagination, the room seemed to be getting fractionally warmer. That or she really was freezing to death.

Elsa seemed snap out of her primal need for self-preservation, white eyes slowly returning to her natural cerulean blue as thought and reason returned. It took a few moments for her power to calm but when it did she took in a sharp breath like a swimmer coming up for air.

"Anna?" Elsa said in a voice laced with confusion. Her arms snaked around Anna's waist and pulled her close, not realizing her younger sister was quite literally hanging off her. She seemed to notice her room for the first time and gasped. "Oh God, what have I done?"

"Nothing short of amazing," Anna whispered with a drowsy smile, her body too cold to shiver any longer. Her strength finally left her and she slid to the icy floor in a crumpled heap.


	12. Chapter 12

"Anna!" Elsa shrieked and fell with her, holding her little sister up as her head lolled sharply to one side exposing her neck and the livid purple bruise across her cheek. Elsa gathered Anna to her, rocking back and forth trying to understand what had happened. Her sister was so pale and her split and bloody lips had taken on a blue hue.

"What have I done," Elsa whispered looking frantically around her room at the ice glistening all around the two. She was about to shout for help when a wordless bellow sounded from the hall seconds before something large and heavy smashed into her door. Ice splintered and cracked, large shards falling away as whoever was on the opposite side beat at the wood again. Third time the charm, the door burst open and a red faced Kristoff stumbled in, slipping on ice and nearly colliding with the wall across from him. He clambered onto unsteady feet, sweat making his hair stick to his scalp like a helmet, a look of utter terror on his face. The mountain man took one look around the room, saw the assassin frozen to the wall behind him, saw Elsa cradling a limp Anna in a room completely covered in ice and felt his world begin to collapse.

"No."

"Kristoff please, she's so cold," Elsa pleaded attempting to lift her sister but only managed a pained gasp as the stitched in her stomach pulled tight. Ah, that's right. She'd been stabbed recently.

Kristoff wordlessly leapt into action, scooping Anna into his arms much like he'd done with Elsa a day earlier and carefully tottered to the bed. The young queen staggered to her feet as well but her focus was on the room. She needed to get rid of the ice. It took a few tries, her power sputtering under her control like a candle in the wind, but she was able to draw the fractal particles back to her and disperse them into the air as harmless snow flurries. Anything cloth remained damp, but at least the temperature had once again returned to a livable degree. The mountain man, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the ice was gone, moved towards the fireplace after setting Anna on the bed, but the queen stopped him.

"Make sure Anna's alright. I'll get a fire started," Elsa said shuffling to the fireplace, hand pressed against the bloody gauze patch covering her stomach. It hurt every time she shifted and she was having difficulty taking deep breaths, but it was just physical pain which could be dealt with. Her growing panic over Anna's condition was what really hurt. Kristoff looked like he was going to argue but the cool look the young queen gave him changed his mind. Elsa pulled the damp logs from the fire and lit new ones, throwing as much wood into the fireplace as it could hold. She'd never been one for heat, but the sudden flush of warmth that burst into the room was like a breath of fresh air.

The sound of clanking plate armor pulled the queen's attention to the door where six guards stood, two of which were holding Physician Malkof by the arms. They took one look at their queen, barefoot, hair in a messy disheveled braid, dressed in undergarments that had been cut away and stained with blood, and averted their eyes. Elsa couldn't have cared less if she were standing in front of the entire squadron completely naked; she understood immediately what was going on, her queenly instincts screaming, and her rage suddenly rekindled. There was only one reason her guards would haul a man before her in such a way. An icepick manifested in her right hand, long and dangerously sharp.

"Why, Malkof," Elsa growled stalking towards the man who had delivered both her and her sister as infants and had subsequently tried killing Elsa twenty three years later. Malkof remained tight lipped until one of the guards wrenched his arm behind his back, wringing a pitiful whimper from the little man.

"I asked you a question!" Elsa yelled, ramming her icepick under his chin where a single bead of bright blood bloomed at the tip. Malkof seemed to find himself and glared.

"You destroyed my kingdom," he husked, swallowing uneasily against the point of the icepick.

"You're…"Elsa's mind whirled as the missing puzzle piece she'd been searching for finally fell into place. "You…you were originally from Weaselton."

"You destroyed any chance we had at fair trade with neighboring kingdoms, and now Weaselton is collapsing because of you! You did this, witch! Your sorcery is an abomination to this world! Your parents should have burned you the second they realized the evil you possessed! I should have—"

Malkof would have said more, Elsa was sure, had Captain Revel not issued a savage strike to the back of the once royal Physician's head with the butt of his sword, silencing him.

"Apologies, Majesty. I could not stand to hear his vial, treasonous rabble any longer."

Elsa should have reprimanded the captain but couldn't bring herself to so much as scold him. If he'd not done it she sure as hell would have, or done worse judging from the amount of blood on her icepick. The young queen had grown used to the mixed reactions her powers gained her. Not every citizen of Arendelle had been pleased their queen possessed such awesome and at times inherently deadly powers, but the grumblings were seldomly heard and even more seldomly recognized. Still, the accusations of witch or devil hurt, but Elsa was anything if not capable of hiding her feelings and slipping into her role as ruler.

"Take him to the dungeons, and find the coldest, darkest cell you can. I'll deal with him when he's had enough time to know what true cold feels like."

The guards snapped a sharp salute and hauled the Weaselton traitor away. Before Captain Ravel left, however, Elsa caught the worried look he cast over her shoulder at Anna. When the young queen caught him looking he averted his gaze and flushed slightly.

"Is there something else, Captain?" Elsa asked, keeping her voice quiet. Revel opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and closed it again.

"It's not my place, Majesty."

"In lieu of all that's happened I give you permission to speak freely."

Revel seemed to be choosing his words carefully before speaking again. "Should…should I call for the Physician's apprentices to come and tend to the princess?"

Elsa stared at the man, pondering his question carefully. It was Kristoff who answered from across the room, his voice dripping with venom.

"I won't let any of those traitors touch Anna."

"Master Kristoff," Elsa sighed turning slowly. She couldn't blame him for his feelings towards the apprentices, she herself was skeptical of their loyalty knowing they had personally tutored under Malkof, but she could not and would not have him naming innocent people traitors without presenting any evidence. "As fiancé to my sister, I respect your wishes, but do remember that I alone am queen. Should I feel the need, I will call the apprentices myself to tend to the princess. As for right now," she continued turning back to Revel, "my sister is in the best hands she could be. Thank you Captain. You are dismissed. On your way back to your barracks please send Kai up."

"Yes, Majesty!"

Revel saluted before hurrying to catch up with his regiment as they hauled an unconscious Malkof to the dungeons. Elsa watched them go before closing the door and leaning against it, just allowing herself a moment to breathe. What a hellish day this had been, and it wasn't entirely over either. There would be so much paperwork to go through, an interrogation to plan, a trial to schedule, letters to send to Weaselton outlining the charges brought upon one of their former citizens…so much work to do. It gave the young queen a headache just thinking about it and the pain in her side flared momentarily.

Gingerly she pulled the bandages aside and stared down at the sutured wound. There would be a scare, that was plainly evident, but what else would be left behind after the wound scabbed and scared? What mental scars would the young queen and her sister have to bare? Surely Anna would…

Elsa suddenly remembered Anna and stumbled over to her after retrieving two cotton robes and a fresh set of blankets from her armoire.

"Wrap her in these," the young queen said handing the robe and blankets to Kristoff. She sat on the end of her bed, wrapped in a robe to hide her near nakedness, and watched the mountain man undress her sister, his large fingers working so deftly at the knots in Anna's bodice Elsa wondered if he'd had practice. Gently he slid the piece of fabric out from under her and tossed it aside as he began removing her sundress, finally revealing the extent of her wounds. Elsa felt her breath catch in her throat.

"What did I do to you," Elsa whispered staring wide eyed with horror at her sister's bruised and beaten body. Red burns covered most of Anna's chest, arms and face in splotchy patches from where she'd touched Elsa's super cold skin. The flesh of her right hand was a swollen bloody ruin, shards of metal protruding from her skin like porcupine quills. A vicious black bruise was slowing spreading across half her abdomen and lower chest. There were bruises on her wrists and arms that looked like impact points and the livid purple and red gash across her left cheek was beginning to swell. The last wound didn't look as bad as the others but it was the worst by far. It appeared as if Anna's right knee had been broken, her leg sitting at an awkward angle and the skin around the joint beginning to turn colors. Elsa felt warm tears begin to well in her eyes and fought back a heartbroken sob. Why was Anna always bearing the brunt of the abuse?

"It's not your fault," Kristoff said, his first words directed towards her since slamming through Elsa's bedchamber doors. The young queen laughed hollowly, hugging her waist so that her deadly hands were locked at her side. She didn't dare touch her sister, not after what had happened at the fjord had very nearly happened again.

"Thank you, but it is. I did this to her."

"Really? You sent the assassins after yourself? You broke her knee? You—"

"I froze her again!" Elsa snapped, tears leaking out of her eyes. A twinge of pain as her wound spasmed suddenly doubled her over. Teeth gritted, she sucked air through her nostrils until the episode passed and she could once again sit up. She wasn't surprised to find a fresh bloom of blood on the gauze patch. Kristoff reached over and tried to put a hand on her shoulder but she pulled sharply away.

"I hurt her, Kristoff," Elsa whispered. "I promised it would never happen again, but here we are two years later and Anna is unconscious after nearly freezing to death, and I'm the one to blame. I just…" Elsa trailed off, to full of guilt and heartbreak to continue. Maybe Malkof had been right. Maybe she was a monster. She sure as hell had done a lot of damage to the people she was supposed to love.

Unable to think of anything to say that would lighten the burden weighing down Elsa's heart, Kristoff turned back to Anna and began making a mental note of everything she needed mending. Her hand and knee were definitely the most important things. The splotchy burns could wait and the bruises would have to fade like they always did…

"You fought him off," Kristoff said as he bent over his fiancé's broken knee and scrunched his eyebrows together in thought. When Elsa's head snapped up, Kristoff winced inwardly. He'd meant to keep that comment to himself.

"What?" Elsa asked in a shocked whisper, her grief momentarily forgotten.

"I…um…well she…Anna, she…Ah hell," Kristoff trailed off trying to figure out how to say what came next. He'd known about Anna's combat training with Revel. Anna had confided in her husband-to-be about her sparing, feeling guilty for keeping secrets. At first he'd been angry, the idea of another man touching his fiancé was more than he could stand, but Anna explained what went on and invited him to join the two on more than one occasion but there was one stipulation. Anna forbade Kristoff from telling Elsa.

"I can't keep secrets from the queen."

"Please, Kristoff. If she knew she'd be furious, and I need these lessons. I need to feel…like I can protect myself. Please…"

He'd eventually relented and had even gone to a few of Revel's lessons, standing at the back of his room and watching his fiancé dart and duck around the training circle as the captain instructed or corrected her. Now it seemed the cat was out of the bag. Elsa knew.

"Tell me what happened, Kristoff," Elsa said with a queenly edge to her voice. The mountain man sighed but didn't look up, continuing to work on Anna.

"Your sister has been taking combat lessons with the captain of your royal guard."

"Revel?" Elsa said in shock.

"Yes. She—"

"Why did she do a foolish thing like that?" Elsa gaped, clutching the edge of her robe and trying not to let ice leak out of her fingers. This time Kristoff did sit back and locked eyes with the queen.

"Anna wanted to feel protected—"

"But I'm here! And we have a castle full of _trained_ guards—"

"So she found someone who would teach her," Kristoff continued over Elsa. "She and Revel have been sparing together for two years."

"_Two years?_ How could she think that was a good idea!? If they'd been caught it would have been Revel's head and carrier on the line!"

"Apparently the lessons paid off seeing as she most likely kept that second assassin from killing you in your sleep," Kristoff finished with a measure of ice in his voice. Elsa just stared at him, dumbfounded. Finally she found her voice again.

"You knew about this." It was an accusation not a question, and Kristoff felt his pulse quicken with anger. "You knew and still let her spar with my guard captain?"

"Of course I bloody well let her do it!" Kristoff exploded, unable to hold back his emotions any longer. There was just too much there to hold in and he wasn't like Elsa, the depthless lockbox. "Anna explained to me _exactly_ why she wanted to learn, and, I'll admit it sounded weird and just a little bit wrong at first, but your sister wanted to be able to protect herself, to protect _you_. You have ice powers, Elsa. She's just a flesh and blood human. Anna saw what Hans almost did to you on the fjord and never wanted to feel that helpless again! So yes, after I realized how vulnerable and helpless she felt and saw how professional Revel was being, I let her continue. But let's be honest. Anna would have continued her lessons even if I'd said no. When she wants something she goes after it no matter who's in the way."

Elsa stared down at her folded hands in her lap, unsure of what her next move should be. Her head reeled with the thought of her sister fighting, but it seemed to make sense somehow. Anna had always been a tomboy, always scraping her knees or coming back to the palace covered in mud and leaves. She was spring and summer made flesh, so it seemed only fitting that the young princess would want to learn how to fight, but it was the _idea_ of Anna trading punches with an opponent that put the sick feeling in Elsa's stomach.

"She…she fought off the assassin by herself?" Elsa managed after a moment's silence. Kristoff had returned to caring for Anna, pulling the long shards of metal from her palm as gently as he could. There were a few small ones that would require a pair of tweezers to remove, but luckily the rest were easily pulled free with just fingers.

"I've seen bruises like these on her before when she's gotten a bit too rough with Revel."

"I've never seen any bruises," Elsa said thinking back on the past two years.

"Makeup is a wondrous thing," Kristoff mumbled. "But she usually just wore long sleeves or bracelets to hide them. You never noticed her strange decision in cloths or jewelry?"

Elsa hung her head, shame burning in her cheeks. No, she'd never noticed. Anna had always been a free spirit, dressing as she saw fit within the confines of princess attire, but even that had been stretched. But it was more than that, Elsa knew. The young queen just hadn't been paying that close attention to her younger sister. After the Great Freeze her queenly duties had quickly caught up to her, and though she spent as much time with Anna as was possible, there were times the two sisters went days without seeing each other except for fleeting moments. It was the only thing about ruling a kingdom Elsa hated, and it seemed her inattention to her younger sister had led to her missing quite a bit in Anna's life. That realization hurt.

A knock at the door made her turn. She bid whoever was on the other side to enter and Kai poked his head in. He took one look at the queen and let out a startled gasp, walking past the threshold before he realized he'd moved and sketched a hasty bow.

"Merciful heaven, Majesty, you're…you're…awake and sitting up!"

"I know it was a shock to me as well. Apparently the physician exaggerated my condition," Elsa said with a small smile. It was a flimsy lie but one the manservant wouldn't question. She saw the relief on his face and felt a bloom of heat in her chest. Kai had been there from the beginning and had lived through the turmoil of the past thirteen years with quiet understanding and unending patience. He was as much family to the sisters as their late mother and father had been.

"Majesty," Kai's eyes went wide when he noticed Anna on the bed, "the princess is she…"

"Kai, please retrieve a spare medical kit from the infirmary and bring it here. Also, bring a small try of food, some tea, two kettles of hot water and white linen. And send for the mortician."

Kai looked suddenly fearful but Elsa waved a hand to the body of the assassin hidden behind the door.

"The second man who tried to kill me is behind you."

Kai froze, his jaw clenching tightly as he turned to look behind the door. Whoever had tried to kill the queen was lying face down on the carpet and he was happier for it. Death had never set well with the manservant. Kai turned back towards the queen and nodded once, his steel trap of a mind locking her order away. He took a step away before hesitantly clearing his throat, eyes on the floor.

"Majesty, forgive my assumption, but would it not be better to take the princess to the Physician's apprentices?"

"Master Kristoff has proven himself a capable healer, and I do not wish to move my sister." There was a gentle finality in Elsa's voice and Kai nodded, backing out the door and hurrying off the retrieve the queen's order. Ten minutes later the manservant returned with a cart full of thing, some Elsa had asked for and some Kai had thought might aid the queen and her brother-in-law. The mortician arrived with the manservant and hauled the assassin's body away without a word. He would be dumped into the next available unmarked grave at sunrise. Elsa thanked both men and bid them goodnight, though it was probably closer to good morning.

"Is there a splint kit in that bag?" Kristoff said after finishing the bandaging on Anna's hand. Elsa dug through the leather satchel and withdrew two short wooden planks and a bundle of gauze. The mountain man nodded, looking down at Anna's knee one last time as if coming to some unspoken decision.

"Ok, I have to reset the joint."

"And you've done this before?"

"I dislocated my knee once a few years back while coming down from the mountains. No one around but Sven, and he's no help. All hooves, you know. So yeah, setting a break is kinda like setting a dislocation."

Elsa wasn't sure she believed him, but with no other alternative other than calling the apprentices she had no choice. Kristoff took a breath, grabbed hold of Anna's slender white calf and gave it a hard jerk towards him. The sound of the joint popping back into place and Anna's sudden scream echoed through the room. It was unclear whether the princess had awoken before or during the setting, but she was awake now and shaking with pain.

"Anna, Anna its ok. I promise that was the worst of it," Kristoff soothed. She didn't seem to hear him, eyes clamped shut and face screwed up in a pained expression that lasted until Kristoff finished setting and bandaging the break. Only then did Anna exhale shakily, face milky white.

"That…hurt," she managed.

"You did really well," Kristoff smiled brushing stray locks of hair from her face.

"I wasn't conscious, so your argument is invalid. There's no telling how I'd have reacted had I been awake."

"You still did good."

"Where's Elsa," Anna suddenly asked looking around. Her question was answered when she spotted her sister on the opposite side of the bed looking down at her hands. "Hey, why are you all the way over there?"

Elsa didn't answer keeping her eyes trained on her hands. Anna attempted to reach over the gap separating the two but her sister drew back sharply.

"Please don't…don't touch me."

The look on Anna's face was somewhere between shocked and hurt, but she recovered quickly, a new emotion overtaking her bruised face. Determination.

"No, we're not doing this again. You're not shutting me out." The princess used her left hand to push herself into a sitting position and moved closer to her sister, mouth a hard line as she dealt with the pain screaming at her from all angles. Elsa tried to move away again but Anna was faster and grabbed her wrist, holding it tight

"Anna please—"

"No!" Anna growled defiantly. "You're not getting your way this time, Highness. I'm not letting you go no matter how hard you struggle."

Elsa looked about ready to bolt but the hand encircling her wrist begged her to stay. Her hesitation only lasted a moment more before she gave in and relaxed fractionally, her perfect posture splintering as she slumped forward. Anna didn't seem satisfied and jerked her sister towards her. The young queen gave a squeak of surprise as she fell against her younger sister, careful not to put weight on either of their damaged abdomens. Before she could move, Anna wrapped both arms around her shoulders and hugged her so tightly Elsa felt her shoulders pop.

"I'm never letting you go," Anna mumbled into Elsa's hair. She could smell the scent of winter frost on her older sister, cool and clean in her nose, and breathed deep, content on just holding on to Elsa. The young queen finally melted into Anna's arms, the warmth of her sister's body like sun shine on her cold skin. She loved moments like these when the two of them could just sit on companionable silence, listening to the creaks of the castle and the sound of each other's heartbeat. But things had changed again. No matter how warm or safe Elsa felt in Anna's arms there was a rift between them, old wounds resurfacing.

"I'm so sorry," Elsa choked, tears rolling from her eyes as she curled onto Anna's chest and began to cry. "Please, forgive me. I'm so, so sorry."

"For what," Anna asked gently raking her fingers through her sister's near white hair.

"I nearly froze you again," Elsa hiccupped.

"Nearly, but not completely," Anna smiled.

"Same difference. I broke my promise to you because I wasn't strong enough."

"Weren't strong enough? Elsa, you successfully killed two assassins in one day! You saved me from the second assassin here in your room. How the hell is that weakness?"

"I nearly killed you in the process…again. Maybe Malkof was right. Maybe I am a monster."

"Oh enough!" Anna tried to get a hand under her stubborn sister's chin, used her damaged right hand and wound up shaking it for half a minute until the stinging went away. Realizing she couldn't use either hand, her left one pinned behind Elsa, she huffed and settled on words.

"Elsa, look at me. Look at me! I'm alive because of you. End of discussion. Had the assassin killed you he'd have done the same to me, his words not mine. But you killed him and saved me."

Elsa blinked in surprise and lowered her head against her sister's chest. It was hard to shake the fear and guilt swirling around inside her, but ultimately Anna was right. Suddenly the tension seemed to leave the young queen and she sank further into the comforting warmth of Anna's body.

Kristoff spend the rest of the evening and much of the early morning bandaging his fiancé. The burns were easier to treat, slathered with some sweat smelling salve that would take the swelling down. Elsa helped where she could, cooling Anna's knee in order to numb it and helping Kristoff smear on the burn salve. It wasn't until dawn was very nearly upon the three, gray light peeking up over the horizon, that the mountain man declared himself finished, Anna patch, and his share of excitement complete. Anna pulled him into a passionate kiss, Elsa turning away to give them privacy. The young queen squeaked with surprise when the two pulled her into a hug, tired bodies flopped haphazardly across the now dry bed. They stayed where they'd fallen, three bodies tangled together in a comfortable warm bundle. Kristoff almost immediately drifted off to sleep at Anna's feet, his soft snoring reverberating around the room. The sisters lasted only a few minutes more before sleep finally claimed them, younger sister snuggled against older sister, both at peace in each other's arms.


End file.
